I Love You, I Think
by sayjay1995
Summary: Sasuke wants to tell Sakura he loves her, but gets Neji to do it instead. Neji goofed it up, and now everyone thinks he's the one with the crush! Will Neji be able to fix this? SasuSaku, implied NejiSaku, eventual NejiTen and HinaNaru. R&R please!
1. Neji's Error

**A/N: I have a cold, and am not in the mood for updating one of my other fanfictions. So what should little old Sayjay-chan do? Write another one, of course! The main paring will be SasuSaku, with implied NejiSaku. Eventually it will include HinaNaru and NejiTen, too. Enjoy, and remember to review! Maybe I'll get so many reviews that this nasty cold will go away! Speaking will be in "…" and thinking in '…'**

**I Love You…I Think**

**Chapter 1**

Sasuke leaned against the rough bark of an oak tree and silently prayed he would get struck by lightning before it was too late. He tried not to show it, but he was nervous. There was an important piece of information on his hands, and he was meeting with someone who might prove to be useful.

Hard to believe an Uchiha could feel nervous though, right? His coal black eyes swept over the tiny clearing, his ears straining to listen for the sound of approaching feet. Just as he was running a hand through his silky ebony hair, another male appeared in front of him.

"Alright, Sasuke," the newcomer stated somewhat dryly. His eyes, light lavender in color, studied the taut lines that appeared on Sasuke's pale face.

"I came to meet you here, and made sure no one followed. Now would you mind telling me what the heck is going on?" Neji Huyga demanded with a frown. It was well known that the Huyga and Uchiha families were considered the best in the village, causing the two boys to have slight resentment towards one another.

"I…need your help." Sasuke said slowly, the words sounding odd, as if from another language. He wasn't a person who often asked for assistance, preferring to do things alone. Neji raised an eyebrow, his chocolate brown ponytail swaying in a slight breeze.

"What kind of help, exactly?" the two spoke like strangers, even though they were only a year apart in age. They had completed missions together too, but even that hadn't caused them to form a friendship bond. Sasuke sucked in a deep breath.

"Spit it out, Uchiha." Neji's eyes narrowed as he suspected he was going to hear something bad. This was the most un-Uchiha like behavior he had ever witnessed, and only something major could cause such a change.

'Does he know something important? Could the village be under attack? Or might somebody be working on a plot to overthrow the Hokage?' Neji thought as he waited for Sasuke to speak.

"I-need-to-tell-Sakura-I-love-her." Sasuke's sentence came out meshed together, but Neji's quick ears caught it.

"What? You brought me all the way out here just to ask me to play cupid!" Neji snarled angrily. Here he had been worrying that Sasuke knew some deep, dangerous piece of information, and it was only a crush! Sasuke's face remained blank, but there was a slight pink tinge to his cheeks.

"I didn't know who else to ask…" Sasuke muttered, explaining why the others wouldn't work.

"Kakashi would have given Sakura one of his dirty books and said it was from me. Naruto would have set us up for a date at Ichiraku's and made the reservations for yesterday. Kiba would have died laughing. Shino would just creep her out. Hinata's too shy.

Gaara lives too far away, and even if he were closer he wouldn't have a clue how to say it. I don't know Temari or Kankuro enough to ask them. Ino…you see the problem there. Shikamaru would have complained, and Choji would have forgotten to say anything because he'd be off eating lunch." Sasuke sighed and looked away from the boy in front of him. Neji had to admit, he saw Sasuke's point.

"And I'm…not able to do it." He added.

"You mean you're afraid to do it." Neji corrected, earning a growl from the other.

"Look, will you help me or not?" Sasuke pushed off the tree and stood up straight.

"Why should I help you?" Neji grumbled. He didn't like the idea of being used for such stupid reasons.

"Hinata would like nothing more then to go on a date with Naruto, correct? If you help me, then I'll make sure it happens." Sasuke promised.

"I don't want my cousin dating that idiot!" Neji protested.

"It'll make Hinata happy." Sasuke said simply. Neji gritted his teeth. The Uchiha had a point, though he didn't like it. He did like the idea of Hinata having someone to protect her though, and after remembering how Naruto had defeated him at the Chunin exams Neji sighed.

"How do you want me to tell her?" Neji asked finally, knowing it was his fate to help the hopeless Uchiha.

"How should I know? Do something sappy like they do in romance movies; girl's like those, don't they?" He shrugged his shoulders.

'How helpful.' Neji thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Sasuke hesitated before placing a hand on Neji's shoulder.

"Thanks." He said awkwardly before turning and running away.

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

"Where is Neji? It is not like him to be late." Lee wondered out loud to TenTen and Gai.

"Neji is off enjoying his youth, of course!" Gai shouted, raising a fist and smiling.

"He's off surfing the tidal wave of life and catching the breeze of success!" Gai and Lee exchanged smiles and they both struck poses. TenTen sighed and buried her face in her hands.

'Ugh, spending the morning with these two is bad enough. But without another sane person around, I'm going to go crazy!' she thought, wishing she had a nice, steamy cup of black coffee.

"Are they at it again?" Neji asked as he walked onto the training grounds and stood next to TenTen.

"Neji! How was your trip of youth!" Gai shouted, slapping the male on the back in a friendly way. Neji felt a vein pop on his forehead, like it always did this early in the morning.

"Gai-Sensei, I was wondering if I could have permission to skip training today." Neji requested, his two teammates gasping in surprise.

"But you never skip training unless you're out on a mission!" TenTen pointed out.

"Then Neji must be going on a mission! Am I correct?" Lee asked excitedly.

"Yes, I have a special mission that needs completed right away." Neji answered, not completely lying.

"I can't deny such a youthful appeal! Go, young Neji, and may you enjoy the spring of your youth!" Gai flashed a bright smile, and Lee could be heard cheering in the background. TenTen wanted to scream

"Don't leave me!" but knew it wouldn't do any good. If Neji had a secret mission, there was no way she was getting in on it.

"I'll come back as soon as I can." He said, more to TenTen then the other two. He walked away, back into the main streets of Konoha.

'I checked with Lady Tsunade, and she said Sakura wasn't on a mission. I suppose I'll see if she's at her house first.' Neji decided as he walked towards the Haruno home. He arrived, but after knocking and standing around for five minutes he knew she wasn't home.

'To the hospital, then.' While he walked, Neji thought of the best way for him to relay Sasuke's feelings. In the time it took him to walk to the hospital, he had a plan ready.

"I need to see Sakura Haruno." Neji told the lady at the front desk as he entered the building. The nurse flipped through a clipboard.

"Hmm, it says Miss Haruno is on the third floor, taking care of patient 467." She gave quick directions and told Neji to have a nice day. He nodded in her direction before taking the stairs two floors up. He passed by the starch white rooms, passing nurses and doctors along the way.

He glanced inside quickly before moving on to the next, finally finding Sakura inside one of the last rooms in the hallway. Neji stood patiently in the doorway while Sakura talked gently to a child patient. The kid laughed at something she said before glancing at Neji. Sakura looked up, startled, before ruffling the child's hair.

"I'll stop by later, okay sweetie?" Sakura promised with a smile. She stood up and Neji backed out of the doorway, allowing Sakura to pass.

"Neji, what a surprise. Did Lee and Gai hurt themselves while walking around the village on their hands again?" Sakura questioned. While she was trying to be friendly and casual, Neji spoke in a formal voice similar to what he'd used with Sasuke.

"I have a message for you, Sakura," Neji cleared his voice and spoke the words he had been carefully forming in his brain.

"You're eyes are like emeralds, beautiful gems that shine with brighter then the heavens. Your hair floats in the wind when you walk, its bubblegum color the exact shade of my face when I think of you. I know I may seem cold, cruel, and uncaring, my eyes like pieces of stone. My heart appears to be frosted over, but the warmth of your smile as the power to thaw it.

I need to touch your soft skin every day to make sure you're real, not just a princess from my dreams. Dearest Sakura, my most darling flower, won't you do me the honors of returning my feelings? All of these words ring true when they escape from my mouth, the mouth of S-." Neji was going to end his speech with Sasuke's name, so that Sakura would know for sure who really loved her. But he didn't get the chance because he was interrupted.

"Neji?!" one voice gasped while the other hissed

"Top secret mission huh?" Neji felt the blood drain from his face when he turned and saw TenTen and Gai staring at him, open mouthed.

"Where's Lee?" he wanted to know, fearing his bushy teammate's reaction.

"He left on an important mission, and Gai-Sensei decided we should follow you. But don't change the subject!" TenTen snapped, her face looking very angry. Gai, on the other hand, looked delighted.

"Ah Neji, you dog! Here we thought you were on a mission, but really you were just sneaking off to be with Sakura! You're truly blooming into a young, hormone crazed man! I always knew this day would come!" tears streamed down the eccentric man's face. All the while Sakura was standing there, her eyes wide and her face tomato red.

"I-It's not what you think!" Neji stuttered, TenTen's angry and slightly hurt face his focus of attention.

"No need to feel embarrassed Neji! It's normal for a teenager to have strong feelings for a woman, especially the beautiful Sakura! You must stand tall and proud, as we await for Sakura's answer!" Gai clasped his hands and turned the spotlight on our favorite pinkette.

"I-I…" Sakura's voice trailed off, for she was too astonished for words. Her eyes met TenTen's death glare, and knew she was in trouble with her friend. Instead of answering and facing the situation like a ninja, Sakura turned and ran. She pushed past the other doctors and fled the hospital.

Outside she nearly bumped into Sasuke, who silently moved aside to let her run by. He watched her go and started to worry that this was a bad idea. Neji came out the doors a minute later, his face still frozen in stupefaction.

"Please tell me you didn't screw this up." Sasuke muttered, his voice oozing with acid.

"I just told Sakura 'I love you'…I think." He replied without a facial change. Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose, looking up in time to see TenTen storm past. She was practically emitting waves of hostility.

"Neji, don't let the sting of rejection hold you the past! I will help you with ways to woo Sakura's heart!" Gai gave the thumbs up sign at Sasuke before grabbing Neji's arm and dragging him away. Naruto chose that moment to pop out of nowhere, a goofy grin on his face.

"Hey Sasuke, what I miss?"

**A/N: Woot, now that was fun to write! I hope you guys enjoyed it. I just want to say that from here on out I probably won't have Lee in the fanfic, just because I'm also a fan of SakuLee. So if you were expecting something to happen there, I'm sorry. I just can't do that to poor Lee-kun!**


	2. Chocolates

**A/N: Wow, this got reviews a lot quicker then I anticipated! In reward for my first reviewers, I present you chapter two! These quick updates sure seem odd to me, seeing as I've been really busy lately and haven't had the time to write. So enjoy them while they last!**

**I Love You…I Think**

**Chapter 2**

Gai didn't release his death grip on Neji's arm until they were back at the training grounds and were sitting down on the dirt.

"Before we get into the advice, I just want to tell you how wonderful it is to see you blossom into a man!" Gai started, more tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Sensei, I don't-!" Neji couldn't get a word in.

"Your Uncle will be proud!"

"Please, Sensei, listen-!"

"Your manly charms will win her over next time for sure!"

"But I-!" Neji silenced himself with an exasperated sigh. All he tried to do was help out a fellow Leaf ninja. Look where that got him!

'Never, ever, again will I help an Uchiha.' Neji thought as he waited for Gai to finish his rambling.

"Now, Neji, if you want to win Sakura's heart, we have to work on your romance skills. There are many ways to do this, and it all depends on the woman at hand. How would you describe Sakura?" Gai asked.

'I said I would help Sasuke, and it seems the Heavens are going to keep me to that promise….I suppose I'll just have to play along for now.' Neji thought with an inward sigh.

"She works at a hospital?" Neji answered uncertainly. How was he suppose to honestly describe a girl he barely knew and never talked to?

"Neji, you must dig down deeper then that!" Gai patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"I know this is very awkward for you, but I must say I'm impressed by your boldness! Walking up to Sakura like that and reading a poem may not have worked, but most guys don't have the guts! If you can do that, then surely you can describe your love interest." The bushy eyebrows wiggled as Gai waited for an answer.

'No kidding.' Neji thought, trying to picture Sasuke working up the nerve to say those things to Sakura. The picture wouldn't form; all Neji could see was himself in place of Sasuke. He cleared his mind and tried to see Sakura though the Uchiha's eyes.

"Sakura…works very hard. She spends most of her time at the hospital, learning high leveled jutsu from the Hokage and healing the wounded and sick. She used to be very girly and giggly, often clinging to Sasuke like fleas on a dog. But she doesn't act that way anymore. Now she's strong, and confident, and believes in her power. She's good with children, and would probably make a good mother." Neji spoke with his eyes closed, trying to come up with an acceptable answer. He surprised even himself with what he was able to come up with.

"Neji! I know you like this girl, but thinking of children already? Even I wasn't that youthful as a child!" Gai looked as if he was seeing Neji for the first time. Neji choked on his own breath when Gai said that.

"No! I just meant that I saw her with a child patient at the hospital, and…" His voice ended when it was clear Gai wasn't convinced.

"Don't be ashamed Neji! It's all part of being a man! Just be careful with what you try with her when you're so young! Anyway, now that I have an understanding of what Sakura is like, we can work on a course of action. She seems like the type of woman who likes chocolates and roses, things like that. So what you need to do is ask Sakura out to a fancy dinner, and give her chocolate and roses! It'll be perfect!" Gai laughed and jumped to his feet. Neji stared at his sensei, wondering how he got stuck with the crazy old geezer.

"In fact, don't worry about a thing Neji! I'll take care of everything!" Gai ran off, leaving a horrified Neji behind.

'Why does this sort of thing happen to me? Why couldn't Sasuke have asked anybody else?' Neji looked up at the clouds passing by, wishing he could sprout wings and fly. After shaking his head and reminding himself that such things were impossible, the pony tailed boy stood up and walked home.

The sun continued its way westward, though no splashes of color other then blue were visible. He entered the Huyga manor and found himself face to face with his uncle.

"Neji," Hiashi stated in means of a greeting. Neji nodded in his uncle's direction, making it clear he wasn't in the mood for conversation.

"Your sensei stopped by just a few minutes ago. When did you intend on informing me of your evening plans?" Hiashi didn't sound stern, or angry, but for some reason his questioning ticked Neji off.

"What plans did he mention?" he asked stiffly.

"Your sensei said you…were going on a date?" Hiashi's sentence sounded like a question, because never before had his nephew taken an interest in dating.

'Darn, I suppose I'll have to go now…' Neji growled to himself.

"Yes, it appears I do have a date tonight…" Neji stated awkwardly, the words tasting unfamiliar on his lips.

"I assume that means you won't be able to train with Hinata today." Hiashi added, aiming for a casual tone. Neji felt fits of anger and very, very slim bits of jealousy arousing in his stomach.

'He always finds a way to make everything about Hinata.' He thought bitterly.

'Can't he just be happy for me? Just this once?'

"No, I won't. Sorry." Neji walked around his uncle, the two leaf shinobi brushing shoulders in the process.

"One more thing, Neji," Hiashi turned to face the disgruntled Hyuga.

"Who's your date?" Neji stared, surprised by the question. With a drop of hope that maybe his uncle cared for someone other then his daughter, Neji answered

"Sakura Haruno." Hiashi raised an eyebrow and turned away.

"I suppose you could have picked worse." He muttered before walking away. Neji's hands balled into fists. He marched up the stairs, imaging his uncle falling off a cliff. Though he was tempted to slam the door like a child, Neji closed the door with a little exaggerated care and turned to see something bulging under the covers on his bed.

His eyes narrowed as he pulled back his blanket. There was a note sitting next to a small, pocket-sized sack. He picked up the note and recognized the large print that belonged to his sensei.

_Dear Neji,_

_I talked to Hiashi; you're all cleared for this evening. I made reservations for two at Konoha's finest Hibachi grill, and sent an invitation to the lovely Sakura. She accepted, and I told her to dress up nice for your date. That includes you, Mr. Youth! Suit and tie, and do something manly with your hair! Pick up your beautiful date at seven o'clock, and give her a good time! There should be a sack of money for you, so don't be afraid to go all out! You need to enjoy the springtime of your youth while you still can! _

_~Gai_

_P.S. I've included some comments and conversation starters for you! Oh, and don't forget to get her some chocolate and flowers! Enjoy your youth!_

_–sparkle-_

Neji peered inside the sack and groaned; there had to be over a hundred dollars in there! He then looked at himself in the mirror.

"What's wrong with my hair?" He muttered, casting a dark look at the letter. The 'comments and conversation starters' weren't much help either. He put them to memory anyway, because to be honest he'd probably get so desperate he'd actually have to use them. When five thirty came rolling around, Neji decided to get ready.

He found a black suit in his closet and put it on, making sure to tuck the money in the inside pocket. He combed his hair, and after a moment's thought he pulled it back into its usual ponytail. If Sakura didn't like it, then oh well. He was fumbling with the tie when a soft knock came from his door.

"N-Neji?" Hinata peeked inside, hiding mostly behind the door.

"Come in, Hinata." Neji abandoned the tie for a second. She hesitated before pushing the door open just far enough for her thin body to slide through.

"I-I wanted to give you something…you know, for your d-date." She held out a tiny box of chocolates, obviously handmade yet delightfully professional looking.

"I-I made them for N-Naru-nobody, and I thought Sakura m-might like them…" she confessed, looking at her hands and blushing.

"Thank you, Hinata. That's very nice of you." Neji took the box from his cousin's hands and sat it on his bed.

"I can h-help you with that tie, if you'd l-like." She added. Neji gestured at it, signaling she could help. With the tiniest of smiles on her face Hinata moved forward and fixed Neji's tie.

"Y-You look very nice N-Neji." She backed away when she was done.

"You're not upset about my missing our training, are you?" he inquired suddenly. Hinata looked taken back.

"N-No, of course not! I want you to have f-fun with Sakura!" the female gave Neji a quick bow and backed out of the room.

'Perhaps Sasuke was right; maybe it _would_ do her some good to go out with that idiot Uzumaki boy.' Neji thought as his cousin's footsteps died into silence. It was time for him to leave, if he wanted to arrive on time. He wandered to the front door, passing Hiashi on his way. Seeing his uncle again gave birth to a new, very ugly feeling that stained every thought in the boy's mind.

That feeling was that of a rebellious teenage boy.

**A/N: I'm sure you're waiting to see more of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, TenTen, and Hinata; don't worry, they'll be coming up! This whole fanfic won't be centered around Neji! Just keep throwing reviews my way like you did in chapter one! Of course, the next update probably won't be for a while. I have another one that needs updated, plus I'm busy with school. Keep that in mind when you get to wondering why I haven't updated in forever!**


	3. Hibachi Date: Part 1

**A/N: Am I in trouble? I know I haven't updated in a very, very long time. You should have seen this coming, I suppose. A thousand, no make that a kazillion apologies on my part!**

**I Love You…I Think**

**Chapter 3**

Sakura sat down for what felt like the first time that day. She was snuggled down into the corner of her couch with a strong cup of black coffee, ready to relax after a long day working at the hospital. She let the aroma drift through her nostrils before taking a small sip. A delightful shudder ran down her spine, causing Sakura's eyes to droop.

Just as she was in heaven, a series of loud knocks banged on her door. The sound reminded her of a thousand mirrors raining from the sky- or was that the shatter of her peace and quiet? Either way, Sakura was ready to kill whoever was on the other side of the door.

'This better be an emergency!' she thought to herself wearily. No sooner had she opened the door then Sakura found her face full of confetti. Gai stood in front of her, wearing a green tux (that's right- green!) and a matching hat.

"Greetings to the lovely Sakura! I've come on Neji Huyga's behalf to ask you out to Konoha's finest Hibachi grill! What say you beautiful cherry blossom?" Gai grinned one of his blinding sparkly smiles and Sakura feared for her sanity. She realized he was being serious, and that worried her even further.

"U-Um…" she had no idea what to say.

"You accept? Great! Make yourself even more gorgeous, if you can, while I tell Neji that he is the luckiest man alive! I'm talking the fanciest clothes you've got! Now good evening Sakuraaaaaa!" Gai shouted as he ran off into the distance. Sakura stared after him, her eyes wide and frightened. She slowly went back inside her home and shut the door, making sure to lock it extra tight.

"Why does Neji suddenly want to date me?" she wondered out loud to herself.

"Because we're the best, cha!" Inner Sakura roared randomly. Sakura sighed.

"Well, it can't be all bad. I guess I can just go, and hopefully have a bit of a good time. Yeah, that's it. I'll just relax and try to have…fun," Sakura told herself firmly. Fun, with Neji? It is possible, right?

"Gai-sensei said to dress up…I wonder if I still have that kimono from my cousin's wedding?" Sakura had to dig through the very depths of her closet to find it, but as luck would have it she did indeed find the kimono. Luckily for her, because not that Sakura wanted to act vain or anything but she truly thought she looked stunning in it. Indeed she did, as was proven when she pulled on the red silk.

The kimono had actually been made by her great-grandmother, and delicate white cherry blossom petals had been carefully sewn on as if made specifically for her. She found a pair of matching shoes and slipped them on before gently combing her hair back into a bun. Then she added just a small touch of makeup to pull off the effect. It made her smile to see her reflection in the mirror.

'I wish Ino were here for me to talk to…she's good at giving advice,' Sakura thought when she realized she was out of things to do.

"What do you mean there're two hundred calories in _one_ of those?" a strikingly familiar voice shrieked from the outside. Sakura ran from her apartment and into the street outside. A hot dog vendor had set up a stand across the street and the current customer was none other then Ino Yamanaka. When the blonde girl was looking, Sakura waved. Ino's eyes widened until they were nearly as big as oceans when she saw her friend.

"Whoa, Sakura! What happened to you?" Ino gasped, a small smile forming on her lips.

"Let me guess, you've finally agreed to go on a date with Naruto?"

"Close. But my date isn't Naruto," Sakura sweat dropped as Ino gasped dramatically.

"OMG who is he?" she demanded to know.

"Lady, are you going to pay for this?" the hot dog vendor asked exasperatedly, holding up a hot dog on a stick. Ino's nose wrinkled in disgust.

"No, I changed my mind. Come on, Sakura, let's go talk somewhere a bit more private," Ino tugged on her friend's arm until they were standing outside Sakura's door.

"Okay, spill," she demanded once more.

"Gai-sensei stopped by just a little while ago, and he told me that Neji wanted to take me out tonight. It was really creepy, but now that the trauma is gone, it was actually kind of sweet. Apparently we're going to some really nice Hibachi grill," Sakura explained.

"Neji Huyga? Wow girl, that's not a bad catch!" Ino complimented. The two girls giggled for a little while longer until Ino declared that she had to hurry to catch her evening shift at the flower shop.

"Alright, make sure you don't act like a dork on your date! Keep it smooth!" Ino advised, not meaning to sound like a jerk. As long as it wasn't with Sasuke, she wanted Sakura's love life to be successful. The two said their good-byes and Ino left. Sakura watched her friend's blonde ponytail disappear before turning to go back inside her own house.

Before she could, however, she felt a rough hand rest on her shoulder. Self-defense mode kicking in, Sakura whirled around to face palm the stranger. Until she found herself face to face with a muscular chest. Sakura looked up into the coal black eyes of Sasuke Uchiha.

"So it is you," he said simply, withdrawing his hand from her shoulder.

"What?" Sakura replied somewhat dumbly.

"I thought someone was trying to break into your house; after all, you don't usually look anything like this. Why are you so dressed up?" Sasuke changed the subject abruptly. At this Sakura couldn't help but raise an eyebrow; usually the Uchiha couldn't care less about what other people did, as long as it didn't affect him.

"If you must know, I have a date tonight," Sakura answered simply, hoping to make the black haired boy squirm a bit. Sasuke appeared to have the closest thing to a shocked expression he could muster, or at least that's what his face looked like.

"A date? With who?" Sasuke sounded somewhat snappish.

"I don't think that's any of your-" Sakura started to say. She was cut off when Sasuke grabbed her shoulders.

"Who, Sakura?" he growled dryly. In her surprise Sakura half mouthed the name of her date.

"Tsk," he muttered, releasing his hold on her and strutting away.

'That little lying son of a reptile…' Sasuke thought to himself, thinking of the place where he kept his sharpest kunai.

"Sasuke, what was that about?" Sakura asked herself quietly. She was appalled that Sasuke would act like that over something as silly as a date.

'Maybe he's growing protective of me or something…' Sakura tried not to be hopeful, but there was a small portion of her soul that still harbored her childhood crush and relished in the thought that Sasuke might finally care about her. While Inner Sakura was busy screaming joyfully, Neji came around the street corner. He slowed his pace when he caught sight of Sakura, almost coming to a complete stop. Sakura noticed and couldn't help but blush.

"Hello, Neji," she greeted somewhat shyly. Neji nodded and tried to remember something to say.

"You look quite lovely tonight, like a thousand shining stars," Neji recited.

"O-Oh, well thank you!" Sakura got another shock that night, though this one was pleasant.

'So the boy knows how to compliment a lady,' Inner Sakura mused. Sakura waited to see if he would offer his arm, but Neji did no such thing. He gestured forward and off they went, Sakura hiding her crestfallen expression as they walked. Not much small talk was made, and as Sakura learned Neji wasn't much of a talker. They reached the Hibachi grill shortly, and Neji told the waiter they had reservations for two.

"Are you ballerina boy?" the waiter asked, reading off a name from a clipboard.

'Gai-sensei, why?' Neji thought, growing hot around the collar.

"Yes, I am," he answered stiffly. Sakura muffled a chuckle, feeling that now wasn't the time.

"Right this way, sir," the waiter grabbed two menus and led the duo inside a dimly lit restaurant. The main source of light came from three grills set up in separate areas of the room, though the candles on the walls did cast their fair share.

Two of the three grills were surrounded by those waiting for their food, but the one nearest to them had only one other couple sitting there. Their waiter led them to the emptiest grill and handed each a menu. Sakura sat down at a seat and Neji followed in pursuit.

They looked over their menus briefly before Neji asked what Sakura wanted. The cook stood behind the heavy black grill patiently, looking in a direction that didn't face either of the two pairs.

"I think I'll take the sautéed shrimp," Sakura answered.

"What a coincidence; that's my order as well," Neji commented before grabbing the cook's attention. Sakura thought it very sweet of him to order for her. The cook grunted before dumping some frozen shrimp on the grill and picking up two giant sized knives.

The grill burst into flame and the cook began to toss the shrimp here, there, and everywhere. Sakura jumped in astonishment, and without thinking her arm wove in with Neji's. She held on tightly, with no intention of letting go. Neji froze at her sudden touch but he relaxed just a little when he found he rather enjoyed the sensation of her grabbing onto him.

'This might not be so disastrous after all,' Neji and Sakura both thought without realizing their unity.

**A/N: Wow, this chapter sure turned out long! I hope that it makes up for the wait. I tried to put some heart into it, and without meaning to I stretched it out and now the date will have to be split into two parts. So keep waiting patiently for that update! Down at the bottom of my profile I have an announcements section I'll try to keep up with weekly. Hopefully that'll give you a heads up on how long the updates will take…**


	4. Hibachi Date: Part 2

**A/N: Nobody get mad that I haven't updated, please. Today was one of the best days of my life; my karate school had a Halloween party, and we got ninja training! I got to practice throwing fake shuriken, walk around in the dark, everything! I am still spazzing out about it! It was amazing!**

**I Love You…I Think**

**Chapter 4**

Sakura watched as the chef tossed the last of the shrimp over the roaring fire and went wild with the knives. She could not relax until the food was sizzling on a plate in front of her, and the knives sat somewhere she could not see. Neji had picked up his chopsticks and begun to eat; he stopped when he saw Sakura had yet to touch her own food.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her, raising a single dark eyebrow. Sakura looked up at her companion, as if waking up from a deep sleep.

"Yes, I mean, no, uh, I'm fine," she muttered before poking at her shrimp. Neji looked like he wanted to say something but instead he turned back to his food. When he moved, he casually pulled his arm away from Sakura's. The pink haired girl bit her bottom lip, feeling awkward.

'Why'd I even agree to come on this stupid date anyway?' she thought glumly, plopping a shrimp into her mouth. Dinner passed without much talk. The other couple busied themselves by kissing every other minute, making the shinobi uncomfortable. When the last bite of her shrimp had been devoured, Neji allowed the chef to take away their plates.

"Here, I have something for you," Neji remembered as he pulled out money for their dinner. He paid the chef before handing over the box of chocolates. Sakura looked delighted.

"Neji, these look amazing!" she told him truthfully. Neji gave the smallest of smiles in return, basking in the sudden warmth he felt. Sakura carefully removed the lid from the box and pulled out a tiny chocolate. She stuck it on her tongue and sucked on it for a moment before chewing and swallowing.

"They taste even better!" Sakura added with a giggle. She offered the box to Neji.

"No thank you," he said, the smile gone. Sakura frowned and looked away.

"Oh, okay then…" she did not understand why Neji changed moods so much. One minute he was his usual distant, quiet self, and another, he was sweet and gentle. It was rather tiresome.

"Hey, are you guys gonna buy something else or are you going to leave?" the Hibachi chef asked. Neji muttered something inaudible and stood up. Sakura followed, holding onto her box of chocolates tightly as they squeezed past waiters and new customers. Once outside Sakura saw it was barely twilight.

'Well, this wasn't the worst date I've ever been on…' Sakura thought with an inward sigh. She figured Neji was taking her home now; it did not appear he had enjoyed himself this evening.

"I didn't realize it was so early. Would you like to take a walk Sakura?" Neji questioned out of the blue. Sakura looked at him, disbelief pouring from every feature. He seemed serious. Then again, Neji always seemed serious.

"Sure," Sakura answered lamely. Neji walked off down the street and Sakura followed. They did not seem to have a destination in mind, for Neji just kept turning one way and then another. During their stroll Neji seemed to be concentrating on something other then Sakura, which she found annoying. He had asked her out on a date and barely talked to her all evening. Finally they came to a stop outside Sakura's front door.

"Sakura, before you go inside, I need to tell you something," Neji stated. He was determined to straighten out this alleged crush business once and for all.

"I don't-" he started to say. Neji was not given the chance to finish because Sakura placed a finger to his lips. She nearly dropped the chocolate box in the process, but managed to keep things smooth. Ino would have been proud.

"It's okay Neji; you don't have to say it. I could tell you didn't have much fun this evening. I won't even ask how Gai-Sensei got you mixed up in the dating game, so let's just forget tonight ever happened," Sakura removed her hand and was about to go inside when she felt Neji's hand on her shoulder. He did not know what he was doing, or why, but Neji wanted to tell her just how wrong she was. Instead he found his lips pressed against hers.

'How the heck did this happen? And what is this feeling?' Neji screamed at himself. Everything was so confusing, but he could not find the urge to remove his lips from Sakura's. She seemed too shocked to move, but after a few moments Neji felt her arms come up around his neck. A 'thunk' told each of them that the chocolates were on the ground. They finally pulled away, panting, and staring at each other with bright pink faces. Neji took a big gulp of air and said

"Sakura, I enjoyed our date very much,"

"Really?" Sakura could not help but notice how close she and Neji still were. The Hyuga did not reply, but merely rested his forehead against hers. They stayed like that until Sakura's legs went numb and she mentioned it was getting late.

"Good night, Sakura," Neji whispered before running away as fast as he possibly could. Kissing Sakura…wow. It was impossible to describe the sensation, even to himself. It had felt good, that was for sure. Remember that rebellious feeling from chapter two? Well it started creeping up inside of him again when he thought of how everyone was going to react when they found out.

Especially Hiashi, Sasuke, Gai, and TenTen. Thoughts of how angry his tomboy teammate was bound to be made him upset, so Neji thought of him and Sakura the entire way home. Little did he know a pair of nosy late night blue eyes had caught him red handed, and was ready to spill the beans to Sasuke first thing tomorrow morning.

**A/N: Okay, so this is kinda crappy and short. I understand. But I'm tired, and I'm still working on what to do with this story. I have a lot of things to squish in, and there's no time for me to think about it. Ugh. At least I added fluff! And suspense! Those two are gold mines, and you can always expect them from me! Reviews are much need, because my spazzing out-ness is dying down some now…**


	5. Confrontations

**A/N: My sister just made me watch the movie **_**Orphan**_**. It was pretty freaky, I must say. Not one of my favorites. If you've seen it, then you're probably wondering why I would go write about fluff and such after watching such a film. I don't know why, but I am. That's good for the readers, yes?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the mention of the movie **_**Orphan**_**. It's owned by someone, don't know whom, but that someone isn't me. Oh, and there's a sorta implied moment from **_**Twilight,**_** owned by Stephanie Myers, not me. Haters, don't worry, it's very easy to miss!**

**I Love You, I Think**

**Chapter 5**

'I can do this, I can do this, I can do this!' thought the Kunoichi as she walked. Her hands were balled into tight fists, her stomach a flip-flop of nerves. Finally her feet stopped in front of her destination: an oak door. A slightly sweating fist hesitated before pounding on the door. She heard footsteps approaching and took a much-needed deep breath. The door swung open so slowly- since when had time slowed down like that? There, standing in the doorway, looking surprised, was Sakura.

"TenTen?" Sakura gasped. The brown haired girl smiled uncertainly.

"Eh, yeah, it's me. Can we talk?" TenTen tried to relax her hands. The pinkette looked taken back, but returned TenTen's unsure smile.

"Yeah, that would be great. Just give me a second," Sakura turned back inside her house, grabbed her headband, and ran back to TenTen. After closing the door behind her Sakura fixed her headband the way she liked it, up on her head. TenTen helped to straighten it and then they were off. Sakura waited patiently while TenTen fidgeted with her own headband, trying to find the right words to say.

"I…I'm sorry for being mad at you before. You know, about going out with Neji and all," TenTen finally said.

"I'm sorry too. I should never have accepted to go on a date with Neji. Even though you never laid a claim on him, we're good enough friends for me to know you like him," Sakura apologized back.

"It was stupid and petty. It's no surprise he wanted to date you; you're awesome Sakura. I guess I just got a big smack of green monster," TenTen added, earning a laugh from the other girl.

"But you're just as awesome! I bet Neji just wanted to practice his dating skills on someone else before he asked you out," Sakura winked, watching TenTen blush.

"Maybe," she agreed.

"Oh well, it's done and over with. Tell me all about your Hibachi date!" TenTen encouraged.

"You talked to Ino?" Sakura asked, surprised that she already knew so much information. The tomboy shinobi nodded.

"Okay, well we went to the Hibachi grill, and…" Sakura recapped her evening in as much detail as possible.

"And after that he walked me home. Then he left," Sakura made sure to leave out the last part of her date. That was a little fact TenTen did not need to know.

"It sounds magical," TenTen sighed as Sakura's story came to an end. The pink haired girl agreed.

"All in all, it wasn't bad. Neji said he had fun too, but I don't know…he's always so serious," Sakura followed her friend as she turned around a sharp corner. It seemed like Sakura did a lot of walking and not knowing where she was walking to. TenTen grinned.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Don't worry though, I'm sure he had lots of fun. You gave him a good time without trying to shove your tongue down his throat, like that other couple at the Hibachi grill," she laughed. Sakura gulped; they were going in a conversation direction she did not want to go in.

"H-Ha, funny," Sakura tried to laugh casually. TenTen looked at her quizzically.

"What's wrong?" her brown brows furrowed as TenTen put one and one together.

"You kissed him, didn't you?" TenTen accused, pointing an angry finger at Sakura's face.

"Don't get mad! Neji kissed _me_! Before I knew what was happening, he was gone! I'm sorry, okay?" Sakura's emerald eyes flashed angrily. Why did Neji have to kiss her? Everything would be fine if it were not for that one little mistake!

"Right. I'm sure you didn't kiss him back at all. Never mind there's a totally hot-wanted-by-every-girl-guy pressed up against you!" TenTen growled.

"Fine, if you must know I did kiss him back, a little. And you know what? I'd do it again. Because Neji is a GREAT kisser, not that you would know,"

"HOW DARE YOU!" The kitty claws were out now. Both girls growled and hissed, their eyes death glaring each other with the intensity of the sun. Without another word, Sakura turned and marched off to her left and TenTen did the same to her right.

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

"Thank you for eating at Ichiraku's!" a man shouted, watching his favorite customer leave. Blonde boy Uzumaki waved, chuckling to himself.

'Oh boy, that was some good ramen!' Naruto thought as he relived every glorious, noodle-filled minute of his breakfast. He was just deciding to try to go on a mission when he caught sight of a fellow shinobi.

"Yo, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, a devious smile playing on his face. The Uchiha boy looked up, his face bored as heck. As Naruto approaching, he began to notice the dark circles under Sasuke's eyes. Match that with his pale skin, and the Uchiha boy sure looked like a non-sparkly vampire.

"What?" Sasuke snapped, sounded a bit edgy.

"You look like you didn't sleep at all last night!" Naruto commented.

"That's because I didn't," Sasuke stifled a yawn.

"Why not? Were you up all night worrying about Sakura's date with Neji?" Naruto teased. Sasuke's body tensed up and he glowered at his teammate.

"No, my neighbor's cat kept knocking over garbage cans last night," Sasuke lied smoothly. If truth be told Naruto was exactly right; Sasuke had been unable to sleep a wink knowing that his darling cherry blossom was in the arms of the enemy.

"You don't have to lie to me, Sasuke," Naruto grinned his familiar goofy smile.

"You idiot," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"So what are you going to do about it? You gonna tell Sakura that you like her too?" Naruto questioned.

"Why would I do that? You're the one who said not to lie," Sasuke answered back dryly.

"Oh come on, don't be such a Teme. Everyone knows you like her. And if I were you, I'd get a move on. Neji already kissed her first, so you better-" Naruto was cut off as Sasuke grabbed the front of his shirt.

"Neji did what?" Sasuke snarled. Naruto told everything he saw, and Sasuke swore.

"See, you _do_ care!" Naruto said once he was out of Sasuke's punching range.

"I do _not_ care, I just think Gai's team is full of freaks and that we should avoid unneeded contact with them," another smooth lie, brought to you by the Uchiha-Teme.

"Sasuke, if you want to win back Sakura, you gotta make her see how much she misses you. Find yourself a date and show her off in front of Sakura! That'll win her back for sure!" Naruto suggested. Sasuke hated to admit it, but that was actually a good idea.

"And just who do you expect me to ask? Ino?" Sasuke asked sarcastically.

"No. TenTen. That'll make Neji jealous too," Naruto replied. The two boys stared at each other for a while.

"Fine, I'll go along with this stupid plan just to save Sakura from a lifetime with weirdoes," Sasuke said at last.

"Great!" Naruto was about to go on when Sasuke raised a finger.

"On one condition," the onyx-eyed boy added.

"You have to come with, along with Hinata,"

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

"Neji, you're a man now!" Gai cried loudly, embarrassing the Hyuga boy. They were at the usual training spot. Why? Because Gai had ran (on his hands, of course) all the way to Neji's house (at five in the morning) and made Neji get up.

When Neji complained, Gai said it was of top priority, a mission only Neji could have. Sensing something important was going on, Neji had rushed to get ready only to be led to the training grounds. Upon further investigation, it was revealed that Neji's super important mission was to give Gai all the juicy details of his date last night. Needless to say, Neji was not a happy trooper that morning.

"Gai Sensei, there's no need to shout," Neji's face was beet red as Gai continued to prance about.

"Neji, you should be so happy! A first date is an important part of enjoying your youth! Now you can start to relish the days of early manhood!" Tears of joy streamed down the exotic man's cheeks.

"It was only one date," Neji huffed.

"And now you can enjoy many, many more! Now let's work on those love skills of yours!" Gai yanked Neji to his feet, and so continued Neji's training in the arts of love and beautiful women.

Until Gai received a letter that practically sent his hyper-ness up another hundred levels, that is.

**A/N: Okay, more apologies coming your way! Sorry Neji's part was short; there's been a lot of Neji, and I wanted to set things up for the other characters. Again, sorry about the long awaited update. Hopefully this was good; I put a lot of thought into the chapter when I'm not updating. Reviews might help me to be in the mood to update tomorrow, as I'm off from school –wink-**


	6. A Plan

**A/N: Thanks for the bunch of reviews guys! This story has more reviews then any other story I've ever written, and that is making me spazz out! You've made Sayjay-chan one very happy little chica!**

**I Love You, I Think**

**Chapter 6**

"Alright Lover-Boy, let's get this show on the road!" Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm and started to drag him away.

"Let go of me, dork!" Sasuke hissed. He pulled his arm free and slid his hands in his pockets.

"Do you want people to think _we're_ dating?" Sasuke added with a shudder. That thought was very unpleasant. Naruto looked equally disturbed.

"Hey, you said it, not me," Naruto reminded before the two shinobi carried on their way. Step one of the plan: find TenTen. Does not sound hard, right? There's no way something like that could be any difficult at all?

Wrong. Nearly an hour later, Sasuke and Naruto were still trying to locate the tomboy.

"Where the heck could she be? This is boring!" Naruto whined, his hands resting behind his head.

"Sasuke, can't you do something to make this easier? If TenTen's a fangirl, all you have to do is take off your shirt. Why don't you take it off Sasuke?" Naruto's sudden idea was getting louder with every word. Sasuke froze up when he heard the words coming from his friend's mouth, especially when one or two bystanders stared.

"Shut up!" Sasuke practically jumped on Naruto's back and pressed a hand against the blonde's mouth. Those bystanders suddenly bolted, and Sasuke had a strange feeling that some people were going to think he was gay. Naruto wiggled his lips out from underneath Sasuke's hand.

"Sheesh, I'm sorry I even suggested!" he muttered as Sasuke let go.

"I bet Sakura wouldn't mind though," Naruto added in a voice just loud enough for Sasuke to hear.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke warned, raising a kunai.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Naruto and Sasuke turned their attention back to the street they were walking in, and in a flash Sasuke was running across the street.

"Sasuke? Where are you going?" Naruto yelled, trying to race after his teammate. The Uchiha pushed his way through the crowd, eyeing a mass of brown hair in front of him. Naruto saw TenTen walking, and realized what Sasuke was trying to do.

"Hey TenTen!" Naruto shouted as he ran past Sasuke and flung out a hand. He got close enough to grab TenTen's shoulder. Sasuke stopped running and watched as TenTen suddenly spun around and knocked Naruto's legs out from underneath him. Her eyes widened when she saw who was on the ground.

"Naruto! I'm sorry, I thought you were a mugger or something!" TenTen helped her victim stand up. Sasuke walked forward casually.

"Step one, complete…" Naruto muttered as he shook his head; he was still a little dazed. TenTen looked at Naruto as if he had gone mad and then turned to Sasuke.

"Hey," she greeted. TenTen had been walking around to burn off her angry feelings towards Sakura. She was still ticked off, but at least now there was some control towards her emotions.

"TenTen, what would you say if we told you we had a way to get this whole NejixSakura thing figured out?" Naruto asked. TenTen stared at the two teammates.

"I'd call you crazy," she replied somewhat coolly. It was annoying to have two random boys come up and pry into her love life.

"Looks like we need locked up with a straight jacket then," Naruto said to Sasuke.

"Thanks to you, some people think we need gay jackets," Sasuke muttered back, his eyes narrowed at the thought. Naruto stared back with a puzzled expression.

"You two aren't making any sense. Either spit out what you're trying to say, or I'm leaving," TenTen put her hands on her hips. Sasuke took over explaining his plan while Naruto stood and nodded at appropriate parts. TenTen was shocked by what she was hearing, but in a way it made her feel happy, too.

'It's a well thought out plan that just might give me back my Neji!' TenTen thought, wishing her inner thoughts did not sound so fangirl-ish.

"So, basically you want me to 'go out' with you just to make Neji and Sakura jealous?" TenTen summarized once Sasuke was done.

"Yep," Naruto answered, his companion rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"But if we want to make them jealous, then where do you fit in Naruto?" TenTen questioned.

"Naruto and Hinata will need to join us. If we don't let them, Naruto's big mouth might ruin everything. Also it will make Neji mad. And let's not forget: little Uzumaki idiot over here likes Hinata whether he knows it or not," Sasuke smirked, feeling the sweet sensation of revenge. Naruto was about to make a come back when TenTen interrupted.

"This just might be crazy enough to work. Let's try it," she answered, smiling despite herself. She may like Neji the best, but that did not stop her from enjoying the fact that she was going to be the first person to go out with the well built Sasuke Uchiha.

"Now to let Neji know," Sasuke pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. How sweet this was turning out to be indeed!

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

'I'm going to grow up to be a very disturbed person,' Neji thought as he buried his face in his knees. Gai's sense of training included methods that were surely against the law. Especially for a minor such as himself. Standing off to the side was a cut out of a woman with curly blonde hair and a chest the size of Texas. It was wearing a skimpy tank top and mini skirt. Gai had insisted Neji try to have a conversation with the cardboard girl. Or anything else, if you know what I mean.

"If you can talk to someone this hot, then you can talk to Sakura or any other girl without fear or worry!" Gai shouted.

"Gai Sensei!" Neji had gasped, his face appalled. How could anyone come up with such horrible torture? This was a fate far worse then any death, that was for sure.

"Now go ahead and practice while I do three thousand push ups- with one hand!" Gai jumped to the ground and started doing his ridiculous training, leaving Neji to face the fake woman alone. That was too much for him, seeing as this entire concept was wrong on so many levels.

It was a miracle that Gai received that letter. While he read it Neji sat down and pulled his knees up to his chin. That cardboard woman was giving him the creeps. Her eyes seem to follow him whenever he moved. Gai's hands shook with excitement as he read the letter's contents.

"Gai Sensei?" Neji's voice was uncertain, as this was weird behavior even for Gai.

"Neji, I have received a letter that will change your life forever!" the man with the fuzzy brows said with a sparkly smile.

"Oh dear Lord," Neji stated, staring at his teacher. He did his best to hide his worry, though some showed in his amethyst eyes. Gai pretended not to hear his student's complaints.

'He'll appreciate this one day!' Gai thought with a smile. Helping a man with his love life always gave Gai a thrill like nothing else could, especially young love.

"You are going to triple date! With whom, you may be asking? With Naruto Uzumaki, your cousin Hinata, Sasuke Uchiha, and our very own TenTen!" Gai paused dramatically and smiled another blinding grin. Neji's jaw dropped open, his own hands shaking with anger.

"WHAT?"

**A/N: As promised, here's a quick update. Again I kind of went skimpy on the Neji part, but just wait until you read what I have stored for next time (which will hopefully not be forever)! I promise it will be great!**


	7. Six Photographs of Blackmail

**A/N: Hope everyone's holidays went well. If you're angry from lack of updates…. Well, I don't blame you. But I did have a legitimate excuse! See the announcements on my profile page for details. Anyway, I'm updating now, and it should be rather funny. At least, funny is what I'm aiming for.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Crayola, nor any of its colorful fun-ness. Also, no credit for Victoria's Secret either.**

**I Love You, I Think**

**Chapter 7**

Neji's face was blood red with rage.

"How dare that good for nothing IDIOT even dare…!" he grumbled, referring to both Sasuke and Naruto. Gai patted his student on the head, provoking more anger from the angsty teenager.

"There is no cause for alarm, my dear student! This date will cause the buds of young Konoha love to blossom! We should thank the heavens for such an opportunity!" Gai held up a fist dramatically to the sky.

"I'm not going. I'd sooner slit my own neck." Neji stated dryly. Gai laughed at the statement, a laugh that sent chills down the Huyga's spine.

"Oh, I think you may want to reconsider. Especially when I show you this." Gai held up a photograph. Neji stared at it, his eyes wide.

"Where did you get that?" He whispered, a nervous edge to his tone. His purple eyes were aglow with embarrassment.

"Oh, I found it laying around, along with all these." Gai smiled evilly and held up a handful of other photographs, each featuring a different ninja.

"This letter says to meet up with the others in a half hour. I suggest you continue your training." the bushy eyebrowed man tucked the photos away and jumped to the ground. He continued with his push-ups, leaving Neji with an even more troubled mind.

'If anyone sees that photo, I'll be ruined!' Neji moaned to himself, gulping as he turned to face the suggestively dressed cut out woman.

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

"Move it, baka." Sasuke snapped harshly, a sadistic smile on his face. Naruto tried digging his heels into the dirt, but Sasuke's toned up arms were no match. He pushed the blond boy towards the giant house with ease. TenTen stood in the background chuckling.

"You _will_ march up those stairs and ask her. Understood?" Sasuke basically dragged the ramen loving ninja up the stairs without waiting for a reply. He knocked on the door and, along with TenTen, jumped behind a bush. Naruto looked around wildly, sweat forming on his forehead. The door opened slowly, creaking like a haunted house the entire time.

"Y-Yes? Oh! N-N-Naruto!" Hinata greeted, gasping and blushing when her eyes met with Naruto's.

"Hey, Hinata. U-Um, I wanted to ask you something…" Naruto stuttered slightly, trying to catch his breath. Hinata looked like she would drop dead with shock. He could hear the faint sniggers of his 'friends' in the bush.

"See, Sasuke, TenTen, Sakura, and Neji are all going out for dinner tonight. I was wondering if maybe, you know, you might want to come…with me?" Naruto held his breath nervously. Hinata's faced turned a shade of red that even Crayola could not possibly have a crayon for.

'A d-d-d-d-date with N-N-Naruto!' Hinata thought, feelings she could not describe racing through her veins. And in that instant, her world turned black, and Hinata fainted right there in the doorway.

"Hinata? Who's at the door?" Hiashi could be heard from inside the house.

"Craaaap!" Naruto started looking around wildly again, and when no one came to his aid he did the only thing he could think to do. He picked up Hinata and carried her bridal style as he ran for dear life. Sasuke and TenTen followed in pursuit, and they barely made it out of sight before they heard a shout at the door- Hiashi screaming that they bring Hinata back.

"That was awesome Naruto!" TenTen said when she finally stopped laughing.

"She still didn't agree to go out with you, loser." Sasuke reminded with a smirk. Naruto sent him a death glare.

"I bet if I wanted to ask Sakura out, I wouldn't screw it up as badly as you did." The blond boy shot back. Sasuke flexed his fingers like he was getting ready to choke someone.

"Cool it you two, I think Hinata's waking up." TenTen announced. Naruto stopped running and sat the Huyga heir on the ground, supporting her neck with his arm. Hinata opened her eyes and blushed deeply when she saw she was in the arms of her crush.

"Yes!" she answered suddenly, looking embarrassed. Naruto grinned in his usual goofy way and then sent a smirk at Sasuke, who rolled his eyes in reply.

"Let's go." Sasuke ordered. The group of four made their way to the little café they were all supposed to meet at. Upon arrival, they saw Sakura, Neji, and Gai were already there.

"Why is MegaBrows here?" Naruto asked, eyeing the plants growing above the said Taijutsu specialist's eyes.

"Gai's here because he has blackmail." Neji muttered, eyeing the back of his teacher's head darkly.

"Say what?" TenTen looked at her teacher and hoped it was not true. Gai chuckled and pulled out the photographs.

"Here we have Neji coming out of a Victoria's Secret and holding a package." Gai held the photograph for everyone to see. Neji made a choking sound.

"You pig!" TenTen and Sakura shouted in unison, each raising a fist and punching Neji in the arm. He said nothing but rubbed his aching arms and winced.

"Ah, young love is so violent. Anyway, here's Sakura coming out of Kakashi's apartment. You can see from the time printed in the corner that it was nearly two o'clock in the morning. Make of that what you will." Everyone turned to stare at Sakura. Sasuke and Neji in particular looked ticked. The pinkette, however, looked mortified.

"We were going over a new jutsu I was studying! I swear it!" her emerald eyes flashed from each pair of accusing eyes to the next.

"Here's Naruto coming out of a lady's bathroom." Gai ducked as Sakura went sailing overhead to punch her teammate in the face.

"NARUTO!" she hissed, raising a fist. Hinata raised a hand hesitantly.

"P-Please don't hurt Naruto. I-I'm sure he didn't m-mean to." She defended quietly.

"Yeah! It was an accident! I really had to go, and I can never tell the difference between the guys and the girls until I get inside!" Naruto crossed his hands across his chest and looked in another direction.

"Hinata, in her skimpy, lacey pajamas, TenTen in a bright pink and sparkly dress, and Sasuke holding up a ladies thong." Gai held the photos up one by one, barely giving anyone time to defend themselves.

"I-I was home alone, a-and they were a g-g-gift from my Aunt!" Hinata looked ready to faint again.

"My mom made me wear it!" TenTen failed at grabbing the photograph from her sensei. Sasuke's picture froze everyone for a full five minutes.

"It was a prank! Naruto put it in my dresser!" Sasuke snapped. Naruto was glad he was out of arms reach.

"How did you even get these photos?" Sakura questioned.

"Never mind the how. All you blossoming lovers need to worry about is going inside this café and having a romantic lunch while enjoying your youth! I'll stop by later to see how it went!" and in a flash Gai was gone, the evil blackmail tucked safely in his jacket.

"Let's get this over with." Neji growled. The group of Konoha ninja sat down and ordered their food. Then each pair started making small talk. TenTen and Sakura kept watching each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. For the most part lunch went smoothly.

Until it happened. What happened, you might ask?

Catastrophe.

Sakura and TenTen were getting rather competitive with their dates. When one pair's hands got close, the other came right out and held hands. When one pair giggled at a joke, the other laughed out loud. And it went on and on until Naruto accidentally knocked the salt onto Neji's salad.

"You idiot! Watch it!" Neji said with a glare.

"You shouldn't call Naruto an idiot, Neji. Only I can do that!" Sakura butted in.

"I can do it too." Sasuke added.

"Oh yes, we know the big tough Uchiha boy can do everything." Neji said just loud enough for Sasuke to hear.

"Why you-!" Sasuke's hands clenched and unclenched as he tried to relax.

"It's okay Sasuke. Don't listen to him." TenTen gently ran a hand through Sasuke's hair, smirking to herself when she saw Neji and Sakura's reactions.

"Yeah, you too Neji. Everyone knows your better." Sakura rested her head on Neji's shoulder and stuck her tongue out at TenTen.

"Sakura's just jealous because at least I could get a date with Sasuke." TenTen told nobody in particular.

"Oh yeah? Well I bet _you_ couldn't do this-" Sakura pulled Neji's face to hers and kissed him, right there for everyone to see. TenTen picked a tomato off her sandwich and threw it at Sakura's head. The pinkette pulled her lips from Neji's.

"Don't hit her with food!" Neji and Sasuke exclaimed in unison. The two boys glared at each other, spitting acid from their eyes. Then they simultaneously broke out into a giant argument that involved more food throwing.

Up until then, Naruto and Hinata had been peacefully enjoying their meal. She was laughing at all his jokes, and neither of them paid much attention until the others started fighting. Then they were dragged into the fight by a packet of ketchup, until the other café customers started to complain about the noise.

"Shut up! We're trying to eat!" a random female shouted.

"Time for plan B!" Naruto literally jumped on top the table and stooped in front of Sasuke. After a brief wresting match Naruto stood on top the table holding a mass of blue fabric.

"Half naked Sasuke Uchiha! Come one come all! You can actually come up and touch his rock hard stomach!" Naruto shouted above all the yelling. It took about a second for word to spread, and then other two or three for thousands of girls (where they all came from is anyone's guess) to suddenly glomp the poor black haired boy and his companions.

There was a lot of screaming and cries for help. Many people ended up bloody and bruised from fighting over the Uchiha. The manager was finally able to drag Naruto and co outside and officially ban them from the café for life.

Girls were still inside killing each other for the tattered remains of Sasuke's shirt. He wasn't the only one that suffered. The others had rips and tears from wild fangirls, and many of them were banged up too. Hinata was holding onto Naruto's arm for dear life.

"Whoa, that was crazy! Who knew women liked you so much Sasuke! It's not like you're Mr. Personality or something." Naruto commented.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, BRING YOU BACK TO LIFE, AND THEN KILL YOU AGAIN YOU EVIL LITTLE IDIOTIC-!" Sasuke's swearing was cut off as he jumped on top of Naruto. Hinata jumped back, looking fearful. A couple people walking by saw this little scene.

"Oh my gosh! It's true! Sasuke Uchiha is gay with the fox kid! He's even glomping his lover- in public! That's just not right!" they gasped, running off to spread the gossip. Sasuke tightened his grip around Naruto's scrawny neck. He was too absorbed with his task to notice pointless people.

"Sasuke…Can't…breath…!" Naruto spluttered as he tried to pull Sasuke's hands from his neck. Sakura and TenTen tried to pry Sasuke off, all four of them yelling at one time. It was hard to concentrate, considering half the time the girl's found themselves staring at Sasuke's hot body which was overly exposed right in front of them. It was any teenage girl's paradise.

"N-Naruto!" Hinata watched helplessly as her crush was slowly suffocated.

"N-Neji! Please h-help Naruto!" she pleaded. Neji rolled his eyes and joined in, finally succeeding in pulling Sasuke away. Naruto jumped up and pointed at Sasuke.

"You're crazy Uchiha-Teme! YOU. ARE. INSANE!" Naruto shouted. There was more yelling and shouting.

"Hellooooo lovers! How is your youthful lives?" Gai gleefully and very randomly appeared from behind TenTen.

"GAI-SENSEI!" They all screamed, even Hinata, and surrounded the insane adult with weapons in hand.

**A/N: It was long. It was random. It may be OOC in the slightest degree. But I hope it was good. I definitely hope it was funny, and I really, **_**really**_** hope you loved it. Reviews are always loved.**


	8. The Start of a Cherry Blossom War

**A/N: Ah, I had my favorite food for lunch today; General Tso's Chicken. That almost makes up for the heck-ness I'll be suffering through tomorrow. My church is having a Christmas play, and the kids are…-shudders- ugh. Anyway, thanks soooo much for the lovely reviews I got last chapter! I just wish all my other SasuSaku, NejiTen, and HinaNaru fanfictions got that kind of attention! ;D**

**I Love You, I Think**

**Chapter 8**

Gai seemed ignorant of the sharp kunai and shuriken that were edging closer to his skin. Rather, he looked joyful and giggly.

"Seems you guys got a little too youthful, if that's even possible." Gai eyed Sasuke's revealed chest and chuckled. The group of teens continued their death glaring.

"How could you do this to us Gai-Sensei?" TenTen demanded.

"Yeah! You're suppose to be a mature, responsible adult!" Sakura added. TenTen glanced at her for a moment before both girls looked away awkwardly.

"I am responsible! Responsible for your love lives!" Gai puffed out his chest.

"All your Senseis wanted me to help out with a little problem; you guys are falling in love with the wrong people! Here, I'll fix it-" Gai started moving the ninja around. He pulled Neji next to TenTen and gently pushed Sakura against Sasuke. Naruto waited, but Gai didn't so much as look at him or Hinata.

"What about me MegaBrows?" Naruto raised his hand stupidly. Hinata frowned at her feet, wishing she could disappear. It was an awful feeling, to have your crush ask you out and then turn around and hope to be with someone else.

'I s-should have known. Naruto always l-liked Sakura…' the timid girl thought as she tried not to cry. The rest of the group sighed at the blond boy's stupidity.

"Nobody really cares about your love life Naruto, but if it's really that important then you're fine with Hinata." Gai said quickly, glancing at his wrist as if he was wearing a watch.

"Well, look at the time. I have to be places, but while I'm gone you guys can train with Neji! I left Bethany at the training grounds." the jumpsuit wearer winked at Neji before turning and running off.

'He named it Bethany?' Neji gulped, fearful memories lurking in his mind. Naruto blinked as he realized what Gai said. Hinata was radiating waves of heat from her face.

"Who's Bethany?" TenTen asked as she took a step away from Neji. Sakura hastily did the same. Sasuke said nothing the entire time, but put his weapons away. The others followed his example, each staring at each other awkwardly as their feelings of anger subsided. Neji hadn't bothered answering TenTen's question, but from the look on his face she decided she really didn't want to know.

"Okay, I think we all need to figure out what's going on here." Naruto shouted. Everyone looked at him silently (other then Hinata, who was breathing somewhat fast). The ramen lover seemed taken back that nobody was telling him to shut up.

"Yeah. So, uh, you guys need to decide who you really like while Hinata and me go eat ramen." Naruto thought up his plan on the spot. He seemed pretty proud of it, too.

"Brilliant idea, loser." Sasuke muttered. He slid a hand threw his hair and Sakura's inner self nearly screamed with joy.

"SOOOOOO CUTE!" the inner voice panted, causing Sakura to blush for apparently no reason. Sasuke wanted to ask her what was wrong, but he thought better of it and looked away.

"Well, eh, bye!" Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and he pulled her off in the direction of Ichiraku's.

"Naruto's right, for once. We do need to figure this out." Sakura stated, twirling her fingers nervously. She looked from Neji to Sasuke and back to Neji. Neither boy was looking at her, though. They were staring at each other, silently saying something.

"How about we go talk about this somewhere else?" TenTen suggested to the other kunoichi. They walked away, heads bent towards each other as they whispered. Neji and Sasuke stared each other down, each trying to appear cool, sophisticated, and the best. Finally they both sighed in unison.

"What's happened to us? We used to be two normal teenage Leaf Shinobi. Now look at us!" Neji messaged his forehead wearily.

"I really hate to admit it, but you're right." Sasuke said slowly.

"We finally agree on something. Who would have thought? But the real question is, what are we going to do about Sakura?" Neji seemed hesitant to bring up the subject.

"I liked her first." Sasuke said somewhat forcefully.

"But she thinks I'm the only one who likes her." Neji countered.

"Because you screwed up telling the truth." Sasuke countered Neji's counter.

"I've kissed her, and I know she liked it." Neji uttered, his light eyes narrowing as Sasuke half raised a fist.

"Don't remind me." he said through gritted teeth.

"If you really liked her, then you would tell her yourself."

"If you really cared about her, you'd do what makes her the happiest."

"I got to date her first."

"And she _and _TenTen got to stare at my chest for the last hour."

"_Uchiha_!"

"This is getting us nowhere. We need to finalize this once and for all. Who get's Sakura, me, or you?" Neji and Sasuke stared at each other, neither knowing a solution to their problem.

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

"I'm so sorry!" Sakura and TenTen sobbed in unison. They were sitting on a park bench, both with tears sliding down their cheeks.

"How could we act like babies? We put a stupid, albeit very sexy, pair of boys in front of our friendship!" they hugged each other and smiled, relief etched into their faces. Sakura's faltered a bit.

"That's it, I'm done! I can't date Neji anymore, not if it means loosing you as my friend!" she buried her face in her hands. TenTen's eyes watered again.

"Sakura, I don't want you to stop seeing Neji because of me. If you really like him, then go out with him again! I saw the way you kissed him earlier. You weren't pretending, the way I did with Sasuke." TenTen put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Wait, you and Sasuke weren't really together?" Sakura gasped, her eyebrows furrowed slightly angrily.

"Never mind, go on about Neji again." TenTen added quickly. Sakura decided to let that one slide.

"At first, I was really surprised to hear that Neji wanted to go out with me. It's not like we've hung out all that much before. And when he asked me to dinner, I was sure it was going to be awful. But I ended up having fun, and then I kissed him and… it made me realize that I could like another boy, one who isn't Sasuke. It felt kinda nice to be free of my childhood crush.

I tried to keep that thought when I saw you and Sasuke together, though it made me want to rip a building to shreds." Sakura looked at her hands while she spoke, smiling softly to herself. Despite the serious situation, TenTen found herself believing that Sakura was capable of ripping a building to shreds.

"Well, Sasuke and I only pretended to go out to make you mad. It was stupid, I know, but I couldn't think of another way to get you and Neji to break it off." TenTen twisted a loose strand of hair around her finger.

"Sasuke wanted to make me mad?" Sakura repeated with curiosity.

"Yeah. I think he likes you, only he won't admit it." the brown haired tomboy winked. Sakura blushed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on TenTen. Sasuke just isn't the type to fall in love with anyone. Even Ino can't win him over, and let's face it, she has all the beauty a guy could want." Sakura's shoulders slumped ever so slightly at the thought.

"Sakura, you talk about yourself as if you've got a wart growing out of the side of your head. You are just as beautiful as Ino! And you have a great personality, something most girls don't have." TenTen poked her friend in the shoulder.

"Then why won't Sasuke admit his feelings, assuming he as any?" Sakura didn't mean to sound whiny, but she did. TenTen's chocolate orbs softened.

"Sasuke's like a big block of ice that needs thawing out. It takes time for such a giant glacier to melt. You of all people should know that." Sakura had no comment.

"So, if you like Sasuke, then are you going to let me have Neji?" TenTen asked, her eyes hopeful.

"I-I…" Sakura's voice trailed off as she closed her eyes and leaned back.

**A/N: Extra long suspense! Mwuahahahaha! This should keep my readers intrigued for awhile! Who will Sakura chose? Will Neji and Sasuke be able to come to an agreement? Find out soon!**


	9. News About The Stud of a Demigod

**A/N: Be happy! I have another update, and it's just in time for the holidays! This one should definitely make you laugh out loud- especially if you thought the last chapter was hilarious. Also, there are going to be flashbacks, and plenty of 'em. Sort of, anyway.**

**I Love You, I Think**

**Chapter 9**

No. No no no no no no. It can't be true. It just couldn't be true. The facts might have come from a reliable source, but there is nooooo way it could even remotely possibly be true. Yet, if it was impossible, why did the words ring through her head?

Why did her body shake, and her hands sweat? The TV remote fell from her hand, falling face down on the carpet. It changed to another news channel, where the same story flashed before her eyes.

"The popular news channel SESF, or Sasuke's Eternal Stalking Fangirls, has just released a pressing story." the reporter said seriously, somehow managing to show off his unnaturally white teeth. The logo for SESF appeared in the corner of the screen as original footage was replayed. A blond haired girl was talking as pictures and video appeared beside her.

"Yes, well we of SESF have terrible, horrible news. This is far worse then anything predicted in 2012, probably worse then any of the World Wars combined; there is evidence that Sasuke, our beloved stud of a demigod, is _g-g-g-g-g-gay_!" she shuddered and looked like she wanted to throw up.

"With whom is the object of our obsession gay with? None other then Naruto Uzumaki, nicknamed the Fox Boy. If you look to my left you'll see the proof we have." the girl stayed quiet as the evidence photos and videos came into view.

"I ugh, heard the Fox Boy talking about their love uh, but the Uchiha lad was very hushy, uh, about it. He was mad and yelled at his uh partner for mentioning it." a balding man told the camera nervously, trying to flatten the non existent hair on his hair. There was a video clip of Naruto ripping Sasuke's shirt off in the restaurant, and the scene afterwards when Sasuke tackled Naruto to the ground.

"He was, oh, how do the kids put it, eh, glomping, I believe, the poor boy- in public! The Fox Boy looked traumatized, and after all, he is still a child. I think that Sasuke is too rough with him, considering they just came out of the closet and all." An older women was saying. Another photo appeared of Sasuke and Naruto holding hands before it went back to the male reporter.

"There you have it folks. Both Shinobi were unavailable for comment, but according to research they are the first openly gay couple in Konoha ninja history. Coming up later, a cat learns to sing, can it be true? Catch it here only, on Leaf Time News." the news ended and changed to a commercial for cat food.

Sakura's lip quivered, and her voice caught in her throat. It was all wrong, so, so very wrong. The telephone next to her roared to life, causing the pink haired girl to jump. With a shaky and pale hand she picked up the phone and pressed the 'on' button.

"Sakura, the news, did you see?" it was TenTen, speaking fast.

"Y-Yeah…" Sakura blinked her eyes hard, feeling the burning sensation of tears.

"It's not true. It can't be true!" TenTen sounded shocked, like she was trying to convince herself as much as Sakura.

"TenTen, there's…there's photos!" Sakura burst into tears while TenTen tried to console her. Yesterday exploded in front of her eyes.

"_So, if you like Sasuke, then are you going to let me have Neji?" TenTen asked, her eyes hopeful._

"_I-I…" Sakura's voice trailed off as she closed her eyes and leaned back. Her fingers tapped the cool surface of the stone bench as she thought long and hard. _

"_You know, as much as I loved being with Neji, I love the possibility of what can happen between me and Sasuke. Also, I really think you and Neji would make the cutest couple ever!" Sakura finally said, her eyes opening. TenTen squealed with delight and hugged her friend, both of them giggling._

Irony is a cruel, cruel weapon for an author to have.

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

Naruto sneezed and found himself lying diagonally across his bed, the covers half on the floor. He was looked up at the ceiling, and for a moment he wondered why he felt a knot in his stomach. Then, it hit him.

_After eating a bowl of ramen, Hinata announced it was time she got back. _

"_H-Hiashi will be w-worried if I don't come h-home soon." she twisted her fingers and smiled softly. This was practically a second date, just her and Naruto, and it was perfect. _

"_Aw, that old Hiashi won't care, will he?" Naruto muttered with his usual oddball grin. They left Ichiraku's and headed towards the Huyga manor. Hinata was giggling at a joke Naruto had already told earlier that day when a red faced Hiashi appeared in their faces. _

"_How dare you! You come and kidnap my darling Hinata! I nearly called the ANBU black ops on you! And I should have! You're lucky I don't rip off your-" spit flew from the angry man's mouth. Naruto started back, his face showing his intense hate. Hinata looked about ready to cry; her eyes were moist and her lip was quivering. _

"_Hey, don't talk to me like that!" Naruto snapped._

"_I didn't kidnap Hinata. I asked her to go to lunch with me and some friends, and she said yes. And it was really fun having her around!" he added. Hinata gasped, her mouth hanging open. Nobody had ever really stood up for her before._

"_Let me tell you now Fox trash, I don't want you hanging around Hinata. She's worth more then the dirty blood flowing in your veins, and I can't risk having a terror like you hurt her. Get lost or I call the Hokage." Hiashi snarled. _

"_Come, Hinata." Hiashi commanded as he turned and marched inside. Hinata followed helplessly. _

'Poor Hinata, having such a rotten dad. If only I would have showed him who's trash! I just wish there's something I could give her to cheer her up…' he pondered on it for a while until a real, not outrageously stupid idea came to mind.

Somehow even Naruto knew that this idea was different from the usual, less then bright ones he normally conceived. With enthusiasm Naruto ran into his kitchen, took a swig of slightly warmed milk and ate the left over ramen from yesterday's breakfast before pulling on some clothes.

Out the door he ran and to the nearest tree. Searching the ground carefully he found what he was looking for. Then it was back to his apartment where he had to find some glue. Naruto worked as fast as he dared, really trying to make his gift look good.

When he was done, there was a lot of glue everywhere, but the gift looked nice nonetheless. Naruto sprinted to Hinata's house and pounded on the door, not caring if Hiashi came and yelled.

"Hey, Hinata, open up!" Naruto yelled. Still nobody came, but a curtain upstairs flickered ever so slightly.

'Guess she's not home…I'll just leave it here, then.' the blond boy sat his gift down on the welcome mat and walked away, wishing he had a bucket of water. There was still a lot of glue left on his hands, and it was getting annoying. He couldn't put his hands behind his head, which left them swinging awkwardly at his side.

"Oy, baka!" a familiar gruff voice growled.

"Huh?" Naruto looked over his shoulder and saw Sasuke stomping towards him, looking beyond mad.

"Hey! What're you so mad for?" Naruto was bumped by a person walking by, and during that process Sasuke reached forward to grab the boy by his collar. Instead their hands collided, the glue holding them fast together.

"Let go!" Sasuke snapped dangerously.

"I can't! It's the glue!" Naruto whined, struggling to get his hand free. People openly whispered and pointed and stared at them. Finally Naruto got the idea to spit on the glue, and much to Sasuke's disgust it worked.

"Why are people staring at us, and acting like a bunch of idiots?" Sasuke huffed. He would rather die a thousand painful deaths then admit it, but he was embarrassed of the public hand holding. It seemed so….gay. Sasuke's nose wrinkled in distain of the thought.

"What? People are staring?" Naruto looked around quizzically.

"You haven't noticed the people whispering and pointing at us all day?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Not really. I got used to that kind of stuff fourteen years ago." Naruto shrugged as he scratched the edge of his nose. Sasuke didn't reply; he had forgotten that his teammate was always an interesting thing to look at in the Leaf village.

"Wonder why they'd wanna stare at you though? It's not like you're very interesting." Naruto added with a chuckle. Sasuke death glared him and was going to reply until they strolled past a TV store. They heard their names and stopped to stare, mouths open and faces reddening.

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

Hinata hovered behind the soft lace curtains, tears sliding silently down her paled cheeks. Yesterday had been the worst day of her life. She had been humiliated in front of Naruto, screamed at by her father, and forced to stay locked up inside.

Never before had she felt so miserable, so alone. She stared longingly out the window, hidden behind the off white fabric. Then, she saw him. The mass of spiky blond hair bobbing towards her house, his beautiful cerulean eyes focused on the front door. Her heart pounded in her chest, but Hinata didn't dare move.

She listened carefully to the sounds coming from inside the house. She could hear Hiashi singing in the bathtub, and the scratch of Neji writing on a piece of paper. Neither would notice the forbidden visitor. Her heart froze when Naruto started pounding on the door and shouted her name. Hiashi was still singing, so it seemed safe to assume he couldn't hear.

"Hinata! Open up!" Naruto pounded once more before placing something on the front porch. Hinata wanted dearly to open the door, but she wasn't the type to disobey her father. And Hiashi had said absolutely no Naruto.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata wiped the last of her tears off her cheeks and waited for her crush to leave. When he did, she ran to the door and picked up what Naruto had left.

"O-Oh!" Hinata gasped. She was holding a pile of sticks glued together to spell out her name in kanji. She walked inside, still staring at the present.

"What's that?" Neji asked as he came towards her. Before she could hide it Neji reached forward and examined the object.

"Uzumaki made this for you?" Neji stated, looking hard at his cousin.

"P-Please don't tell!" Hinata begged, to scared to wonder how Neji knew it was from the blond boy.

"Hinata, I don't know how to tell you this, but…." Neji pulled at his collar uncomfortably. A tiny bit of pity flashed in his eyes.

"What is it, N-Neji?" Hinata asked fearfully.

"Tell me!" she pleaded when Neji hesitated.

"Turn on the news." he advised. Hinata ran to their TV and pushed the power button. Neji stood behind her, and she could hear him sighing. Hinata found a news station, and when she saw the headline she fell backwards in a dead faint. Neji caught her and gently lay her on the couch. Then he picked up the stick gift Naruto had made.

'Humph. I still don't get what she sees in that idiot.' he thought. Sounds could be heard coming from the bathroom; Hiashi was nearly done with his bath. Neji entered Hinata's bedroom and hid Naruto's gift under the covers. Then he left and went back to his room to continue what he had been doing earlier; working on ways to win Sakura's love.

"It should be easier now, since Sasuke's got a thing for men now." Neji said to himself with a slightly smug look on his face.

Neji was happy. Hinata was scared unconscious. Naruto and Sasuke were publicly humiliated beyond belief and accused of being romantically involved with each other. TenTen was sad for her friend, but happy in the thought that she could have Neji. Sakura was crying her eyes out. Everything was out of orbit, and just plain wrong.

Again, Irony is a cruel, cruel weapon for an author to have.

**A/N: There you have it, chapter nine. Hope it was good; it took me forever to write this super long chapter! Consider this your Christmas present. All I want in return are reviews, which you all do a good job of anyway. Happy Holidays!**


	10. Good News, Bad News

**A/N: Happy Pre Holidays everyone! As luck would have it, Sayjay-chan is stuck with a bad cough that is very annoying. Hope none of you all get sick, and that Santa brings everybody a stocking full of joy! Oh, and just so the die hard SasuSaku and NejiTen fans know, this chapter will mainly focus on HinaNaru. Sorry, I know everyone wants more Neji, but Hinata needs her moment too! Also there may be some grammar issues, because Naruto's…well, Naruto. And I guess I can throw in some more Neji.**

**I Love You, I Think**

**Chapter 10**

'Gotta tell her…gotta tell her…gotta tell her…' Naruto told himself as he ran in the direction of the Hyuga home. He and Sasuke had been having a rough time over the last couple days. They couldn't be seen in public together without facing humiliation. People came up to them, holding signs about how wrong gay love is.

It was the worst possible way anyone could have tortured the poor fox kid. Sasuke fared no better. Neither of them had ventured outside much, and none of their friends saw them. That was why Naruto decided it was time to be a man and talk to Hinata face to face.

'I just wish that man didn't have to be me!' Naruto whined to himself. He nervously stood in front of Hinata's front door, wondering if anyone would answer this time. He braced himself for the worst and, lo and behold, Neji answered the door. His eyes were narrowed hatefully.

"Uzumaki, we don't give out table scraps." Neji stated, crossing his arms.

"I'm not here to eat your food, I'm here to talk to Hinata. Is she home?" Naruto asked, peering over Neij's shoulders.

"Do you honestly think I'd let you near my cousin after what you did to her?" Neji growled.

"Wha? What do you mean, 'what I did to her'?" Naruto cocked his head quizzically.

"You idiot! Because you and Sasuke suddenly became a public item, Hiashi screamed at Hinata and put her on house lock down. Now she's depressed and won't come out of her room. It's all your fault Uzumaki-baka,

and if you come near Hinata again I'll take a kunai and shove it someplace you won't find enjoyable. Well, you might like it, but you get the point." and without another word Neji slammed the door shut.

"Was that a gay joke, huh Neji? Really?" Naruto hissed, his face reddening.

'What should I do? Hinata needs me, but stupid Neji is acting all dorky and junk…' Naruto racked his brain for a plan.

"Got it!" he smirked at the Hyuga house and hid behind the all too familiar bushes. He waited and waited until finally Neji exited the house and left. Then, Naruto made his move, resisting the urge to throw a rock at Neji's ponytail. He knocked on the door and prayed that this time a female would answer the door. It was like de ja vu; the door opened so slow it seemed to defy time. Naruto impatiently pulled the door open.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted, about to go off into a long winded speech.

"Heh hem." the person coughed, glowering and raising the heavy wooden cutting board that happened to be in their hand.

"Neji? But I thought you left!" Naruto gasped.

"You really are stupid. My Byakugan caught you standing behind the bushes. You were going to come in and hurt Hinata even more. Why are you so selfish?" Neji demanded. Naruto looked taken back.

"I just wanna tell her the truth!" he said calmly, his blue eyes shining with determination. Neji stared at him ferociously.

"Fine. But if you hurt her-" he warned, being cut off as Naruto pushed past. After a second he walked back towards Neji.

"Hey, which way is Hinata's room?" Naruto asked. Neji sighed and pointed upstairs. Naruto took off flying, knocking over an expensive vase on the way.

'Good thing Hiashi's running errands.' Neji thought as he walked off to find a broom. He may dislike the idea of his cousin's gay crush rushing off to talk to her, especially because the said gay crush is a total idiot, but if Naruto was that committed…Besides, Neji reminded himself, he had more pressing issues to worry about.

"Hinata!" Naruto threw open the bedroom door. Hinata was lying on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. When Naruto burst through her door, however, Hinata jumped ten feet in the air.

"Gyaaaa!" she screamed, face paled and heart racing.

"N-N-N-N-aaaa?" Hinata's voice failed her and for a moment there was nothing but silence. Then Hinata started to cry.

"Whoa, Hinata! What's wrong?" Naruto moved and sat down next to Hinata's sobbing figure.

"Oh N-Naruto! Why a-are you here?" Hinata's tears blocked out the stuttering she usually had. Naruto watched the tears fall from her face with worry.

"I'm here 'cause I need to talk to you!" Naruto explained. Hinata couldn't find the courage to look at him, so she stared at her wet hands.

"But first, why are you crying?" Naruto asked again.

"Because you're GAY!" she practically shouted the last word, her tears falling even faster.

"That's what I wanted to talk about! You see, there's been a big misunderstanding!" Naruto quickly told the truth about his and Sasuke's relationship. Hinata's tear stricken eyes were wide; clearly she was trying (and utterly failing) not to be hopeful.

"S-So you're…not gay?" Hinata managed to get by with hardly a stutter.

"Of course not!" Naruto said matter-of-factly. He fingered the edge of Hinata's bedspread before lifting it and drying Hinata's cheek. She blushed so hard Naruto could feel the heat through the fabric.

"Uh oh, I think you're getting a fever! You better lay down. I'll leave you alone so you can sleep." Naruto got up and left. Hinata watched him leave and wished he could have stayed a little longer.

"So, Hinata, what did the Fox Kid want?" Neji questioned casually, leaning against the door frame.

"N-Neji, the most amazing t-thing happened! It turns out Naruto-kun and Sasuke aren't really gay! And Naruto really cared that I was upset and he was worried that I was sick, and I didn't even faint!" Hinata batted her eyes dreamily.

"Today's the best day of my life!" her smiled faded at the look on Neji's face.

"Uzumaki and Sasuke aren't gay?" Neji repeated. Hinata shook her head. Neji fell to his knees.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed at the heavens.

**A/N: I honest wasn't planning on having so much Neji, but hey, that's okay, right? Anyway, hope the HinaNaru fluff was good. I think Naruto may have been slightly OOC, but what can I say? I am a sucker for fluff. Next chapter, find out how Sakura's been coping. Happy holidays, once again!**


	11. Sasu Chan

**A/N: I hope the holidays went well for everyone. Mine did; I even got a real metal shuriken! Hee hee~ I love it so much! Now off we go sprouting our wings and flying off into the sunset of youuuuuuth!**

**I Love You, I Think**

**Chapter 11**

Life isn't fair. Adults said that all the time, but for the first time, Sakura believed them. It wasn't fair that both her teammates were gay. It wasn't fair that her childhood crush would never return her feelings. And it certainly wasn't fair that everyone else she knew had a partner to love.

Only her, the little pink haired girl with the giant forehead was left single. That depressing information was what left Sakura without the urge to get up in the morning. She remained in bed, crying occasionally, staring into space. She didn't answer the phone, change her clothes, and barely ate. This went on for a couple days before TenTen started to worry.

'I'm going to cheer Sakura up if it's the last thing I ever do!' TenTen decided as she marched out of her house. There was one destination in mind; Sasuke's house. Her fist pounded angrily on the door. It opened, revealing Sasuke in a white house coat. He still had sand in his eyes.

"What do you want? It's seven a.m.!" Sasuke hissed crankily.

"_You_ are going to go over to Sakura's house and get this whole mess straightened out." TenTen stated, poking Sasuke in the rock hard chest.

"Why?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Because, the poor girl is super depressed, and it's all your fault!" TenTen growled. Sasuke frowned back; why hadn't he heard of this? His darling Sakura was in emotional peril!

"I'll go get dressed." he slammed the door shut in his haste. TenTen nodded her head approvingly before turning and walking away. Sasuke flung his house coat on the floor and ripped open a drawer. He dug around before holding up a lacy black thong.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke roared to himself, flinging the sexy lingerie in a corner. That no good prankster would be dealt with later. He pulled on real clothes, ones that looked very un-gay. Then he was off to the Haruno home. As soon as he was close enough, Sasuke rapped on the door. Nobody answered. He tried again, but still found himself face to face with the wood.

"Sakura?" Sasuke shouted through the door. He felt a vein pop in his forehead. His hand shot forward and turned the door knob.

"I'm coming in." Sasuke said simply as he walked inside. His sharp ears picked up sounds from a bedroom down the hall.

"Sakura?" he called again, walking towards the nearest bedroom.

"Go away!" Sakura's voice snapped through the door. Sasuke stopped in front of it.

"What's going on? Why are you locked in your room?" he asked somewhat wearily.

"Like you care." she retorted.

"I'm coming in." Sasuke warned for the second time.

"If you do I swear I'll-" Sakura cut herself off as her bedroom door swung open. She was lying on her bed, the covers loosely piled on top her. She looked a hobo, to put it kindly. Sasuke stared at her, his dark eyes mildly surprised.

"Do you always break into people's houses?" Sakura muttered, her slightly red eyes narrowed.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, smirking at the girl's annoyed reaction.

"I forgot, you don't talk." she uttered sarcastically.

"And I forgot you have no manners." Sasuke commented back. Sakura blushed when she realized he was right.

"You can go ahead and sit…if you want." Sakura pointed to the floor. Sasuke swaggered over to the unoccupied side of Sakura's bed and sat down on the edge of it. Sakura looked even more annoyed.

"You look like crap." Sasuke observed calmly.

"I feel like crap, thanks to you." Sakura huffed. She sat up and glared at her teammate.

"I've been hearing that a lot this morning. What exactly did I do that emotionally scarred you into becoming a slob?" at least he was honest with his adjectives. Sakura looked away, the red coloring returning to her cheeks.

"Did you spend the night with Naruto last night?" she blurted out, her heart pounding fast. She clenched her bedspread until her hand was white. Sasuke froze.

"Sakura, I'm not gay." he answered firmly. Sakura's head whipped around and she accidentally collided with Sasuke's nose. Blood rained down his face, but Sasuke didn't utter a single sound of pain.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my oh my oh my! I'm so sorry Sasuke!" Sakura gasped, her mouth dropped open. Sasuke tilted his head upwards.

"Here, let me!" Sakura grabbed her cover and tried to stop the blood flow. It took a few minutes before she deemed it safe enough to remove the blanket.

"Now I'll heal it with chakra." Sakura explained as her hand glowed green. She touched Sasuke's nose, making him grunt. Now it was Sakura's turn to smirk.

"What's so funny?" Sasuke hissed, his voice sounding funny because of Sakura's grip on his nose.

"The wittle Sasu-chan has a hurt nosie." she teased. Finally Sakura removed her hand.

"Now what were we talking about?" Sakura inquired, tossing the bloody blanket on the floor. She was wearing a pair of silky pink pajamas; the top was a little low cut. Sasuke's eyes flickered to her face.

"I said, I'm not gay." Sasuke repeated seriously.

"You don't have to lie to me Sasuke. We've been teammate long enough to be above that." Sakura sighed.

"I just wish you and Naruto would have told me. What, did you think that the fragile little cherry blossom couldn't take such big news?" he frowned. She noticed traces of hurt in her words; the last thing she wanted was to sound sad in front of Sasuke.

"Sakura, how many times will it take for you to accept the truth? That was just a rumor. Naruto's been hanging around with Hinata. You can ask her if you don't believe me." Sasuke watched as a waver of uncertainty came over Sakura.

"But the photos…and video…!" she spluttered.

"All lies." Sasuke practically cut her off in his haste to get this awkward misunderstanding out of the way. Sakura's face broke out into the first true smile she'd had for days.

"I knew it! I knew there was no way you could by gay!" she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tight, laughing the whole time. Sasuke's mouth went dry, though he felt the palms of his hands start to sweat. Why the heck did being around a girl have to be so weird and difficult? At least he wasn't blushing.

"Sasuke, you look a little red. Are you feeling okay?" Sakura asked suddenly, pulling herself away from his body for a better look.

Darn it.

"Hn. You better get that blanket washed, or the blood will stain." Sasuke quickly changed the subject.

"That one's really old, so don't worry about it. I was going to get rid of it anyway." Sakura shrugged.

'Besides, I like sitting here with my non-gay teammate.' Sakura thought, but wisely didn't say out loud. She realized her arms were still around them and, after blushing, pulled them away.

"Sorry. But you've really made me happy!" Sakura played with a strand of hair.

'I made her that happy?' Sasuke was surprised that he was capable of that sort of thing. He wanted to say something to her, to make her laugh again, but the unformed words stuck in his throat.

"You seem like you're doing some serious thinking." Sakura pointed out.

"Hn? Oh, eh, yeah." Sasuke tapped his leg as they fell into awkward silence. Now was when he should have confessed his undying love. Instead he asked something totally random.

"You have any tomatoes?"

"What?" Sakura looked at the Uchiha boy like he was crazy.

"I like them; they're my favorite food."

"Isn't it considered rude to demand food?"

"Isn't it considered rude that you didn't offer in the first place?"

"Touché." Sakura stood up and stretched her arms. Sasuke tried to appear uninterested, even though when her arms were raised her stomach showed.

"Come on, I'll see if I can find something for you to eat." Sakura wandered to her kitchen, with Sasuke following silently. He really had to try not to stare at the way her hips swung from side to side when she walked.

"Do you need my permission to sit down?" Sakura asked jokingly. Sasuke sat down.

"Ha ha, funny." his voice oozed sarcasm. Sakura opened the refrigerator and dug around for a minute.

"Hey! You're in luck; my last tomato. Do you want a salad or something?" Sakura looked over her shoulder.

"No, just the tomato." Sasuke held out his hand. Sakura stood up and let the refrigerator swing shut.

"You want to eat this thing _raw_?" her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Yes. Now give it here." Sasuke caught the tomato as Sakura tossed it. She sat down across from him and watched as Sasuke took a bite.

"Ewww! How can you do that?" she shuddered. Sasuke's tongue stuck out and licked away any juice from his lips.

"You ought to try it." Sasuke suggested before biting out another chunk.

"I'd rather not." Sakura yawned and glanced at the clock; it wasn't even eight o clock yet.

'Tell her now!' Sasuke mused forcefully. Instead he took another bite of red vegetable/fruit. Sakura suddenly snatched the snack from Sasuke's pale fingers. Sasuke's face looked similar to a pout.

"I'll give you your disgusting snack back, but only if you tell me what's on your mind." Sakura held the tomato out of arms reach.

"Does it matter?" Sasuke half moaned. He really wanted that tomato back!

"Yes, yes it does." Sakura looked slightly smug.

"Before I answer, can I ask a question of my own?" Sasuke was starting to feel the slightest bit nervous, an alien emotion for one such as himself.

"Go for it." Sakura waited to hear what he had say.

"….What did Neji…say to you that made you go….out with him?" Sasuke asked carefully and slowly. Whatever Sakura was expecting him to ask, it sure wasn't that. She actually dropped the tomato; it rolled across the floor, leaving a trail of red juice and yellow seeds.

"W-Why…?" she stuttered, feeling her face burn. Sasuke's cheeks were pink too.

"Never mind, it was just out of curiosity." he added quickly. Sakura's eyes widened as a flash back hit her.

"_Well, Sasuke and I only pretended to go out to make you mad. It was stupid, I know, but I couldn't think of another way to get you and Neji to break it off." TenTen twisted a loose strand of hair around her finger._

"_Sasuke wanted to make me mad?" Sakura repeated with curiosity._

"_Yeah. I think he likes you, only he won't admit it." the brown haired tomboy winked. Sakura blushed and rolled her eyes._

"_Oh, come on TenTen. Sasuke just isn't the type to fall in love with anyone…"_

"S-Sasuke…you…?" Sakura didn't know what to say. Neither did Sasuke apparently. He sighed and rested his head on his hand.

"This wasn't quite how I planned…" he muttered to himself. Sasuke got up suddenly and stooped to pick up the tomato. He sat it on the table in front of Sakura.

"I should leave now." Sasuke turned his back on Sakura and took a couple steps forward.

"Sasuke, wait!" Sakura jumped out of her chair and in the heat of the moment pulled him into a hug. She buried her face into the Uchiha fan and waited. Neither one moved or spoke. After awhile Sasuke shifted and Sakura found herself buried into his chest. Hesitantly he rested his chin on top her head, as if he wasn't sure he was doing it correctly.

"Sakura…" Sasuke whispered. A figure came crashing through Sakura's kitchen windows. After brushing the glass and dust from the spandex, Gai stood up and flashed a good guy pose.

"HOLY CRAP! MY WINDOWS!" she gaped, her eyebrows twitching.

"Good morning youthful youths! I just came to congratulate you two on finally getting together! It's about time everything was in order! Here's a fruit basket as thanks from your Sensei and myself!" he pulled out a bright green fruit basket (where did it come from?) and sat it down on the glass covered table.

"Bye bye now!" Gai waved, flashing another smile and crashing through another window.

"He better be planning on paying for those!" Sakura shrieked.

**A/N: Yay for lots and lots of fluff! I thought this chapter was so cute~ and towards the end I felt like throwing in some random humor. I hope that it was funny; that was my goal, anyway. Until next update, adios! **


	12. Flower Power

**A/N: Now that we've seen some minor HinaNaru fluff and major SasuSaku fluff, I want to play up NejiTen. Well, sorta anyway. You'll see what I mean by the end of the chapter. So what are you waiting for? Get reading already! I haven't anything important to say! Sheesh…….! Lol. Anyway, in case you don't know, some people say that flowers mean certain things. I used google for this, so if you think I'm wrong on the meanings I'm sorry (That's not foreshadowing in any way whatsoever)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Google, because if I did I would be rich. **

**Dedication: To my sister, who will never read this fan fiction or any other one I may write. Why are you being dedicated? Because you not only are straightening my hair for me but you also are named after a flower that may be mentioned later. Plus, our birthdays are coming up. 3**

**I Love You, I Think**

**Chapter 12**

If Gai had any intention of paying for Sakura's windows, he didn't voice it. Instead he went prancing to TenTen to tell her the good news.

"…and when I walked in through the front door, there they were, arms around each other in passionate love!" Gai finished dramatically. His entire version of the story was one fat lie after another, and TenTen suspected as much. Sasuke Uchiha practically stripping while kissing his new girlfriend in the kitchen? Yeah right.

"Now where is Neji so that I can grace him with this blessing?" Gai looked around as if to expect Neji to suddenly appear.

"I'll tell him." TenTen volunteered.

"Great! Now run along; you're wasting valuable youth!" Gai pushed her along. When she was out of sight, TenTen sighed irritably.

'Gai-Sensei's stories suck.' she thought before pondering on were to look for Neji. She decided to try his house. Upon arrival at the Hyuga manor, TenTen saw Hinata in the front garden tending to flowers.

"Hey Hinata. Been getting flower lessons from Ino now that you can get out of the house?" she greeted. Hinata looked up, her face slightly wet with perspiration.

"T-TenTen! Hello! I-I'm not really allowed o-outside, but my father s-said I could p-p-plant a few flowers." She explained.

"Are you l-looking for Neji?" Hinata smiled and brushed some dirt from her hands.

"Yeah. Is he home?" TenTen examined the flowers Hinata was planting. They were white, but other then that TenTen had no way of identifying them. All she knew was that the way the petals seemed to hang down made her sad, as if the flower didn't think it would thrive. She glanced up as Hinata answered.

"N-No. Your Sensei stopped by a c-couple of hours ago. I b-believe they went training." the timid girl uttered. TenTen couldn't kicked something.

"S-something wrong TenTen?" Hinata asked, fearing she'd made her friend mad.

"I just talked to Gai-Sensei. He could have mentioned that to me." TenTen sighed.

"I-I'm sorry." Hinata picked up her watering can.

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault, after all. Besides, don't let my anger get you down! You looked so happy when I first came!" she changed the subject smoothly, grinning when Hinata blushed.

"W-Well, N-Naruto was here earlier…" Hinata stuttered with a shy smile.

"That explains everything. Well I'd love to stay and chat, but I got to go get Neji. See you later Hinata!" TenTen waved goodbye and left, Hinata shouting a fair well at her back.

'When I get my hands on Gai-Sensei I'm going to…' TenTen thought the meanest threats she could while she walked to the training grounds. She could see Neji in the distance facing what looked like a person. Deciding to be nosy, TenTen crept behind trees until she was close enough to see. Her mouth dropped open so far it hit the ground.

Neji was staring at a cardboard woman, whose blonde hair puffed out like a lion's mane. Her chest was the biggest one of its kind TenTen had ever seen; and most of it could be seen given the skimpy piece of fabric apparently considered a tank top.

Not to mention the extra small mini skirt. Add on the layers of makeup and the bellybutton piercing and it was practically the perfect present for any man. Somehow TenTen knew who this testosterone addiction had to be.

"So, this is Bethany?" TenTen snickered even though she found the whole thing sickening. Neji jumped so hard he knocked into Bethany, forcing her to the ground.

"TenTen?!" Neji gasped, looking very pale.

"Well, she seems, eh, friendly." TenTen held out a hand and helped Neji stand up. He quickly let go of her hand.

"Gai-Sensei wanted me to work on my…romantic skills." Neji explained awkwardly.

"Ah. That explains a lot." TenTen's toes dug into the dirt. Neither spoke, putting them both in an uncomfortable silence.

"Did you…need something?" Neji asked somewhat stiffly.

"Oh, yeah. Gai-Sensei wanted me to tell you that Sakura and Sasuke are together now; it turns out he and Naruto aren't gay after all. Why don't you and I hang out then, now that all our friends have paired off?" TenTen smiled brightly, amazed that she had the guts to suggest such a thing.

"What? No!" Neji sighed in frustration.

"What's wrong?" TenTen frowned, her brown eyes turning sad. She had a feeling this was going in a bad direction.

"It's just that…I don't want to hang out with you like that, TenTen." Neji mumbled. It was very painful to know he was hurting his teammate, evident by the look on her face.

"You never got over your sudden little crush on Sakura?" TenTen stated dryly.

"It's not just a crush! I mean, uh…I don't know how to explain it. When I'm with her, I feel, calm, and happy and…" Neji's voice trailed off uncertainly.

"You don't feel that way around me?" TenTen's voice waved a tiny bit. Neji cringed inwardly; his tomboy teammate _never_ cried.

"It's not that I don't like you!" Neji realized there was nothing he could say to fix the situation.

"I get it. See you around, maybe…" TenTen turned and sprinted away, tears burning in her eyes. Rejection hurt bad, that was for sure. Neji watched his friend run, feeling something ugly stir inside him. It hurt worst then finding out he had lost Sakura to Sasuke, and almost as bad as loosing his dad.

But why did his heart throb like a thousand cactus spikes were being plunged into it if he was so sure that Sakura was his love? It made no sense. Abandoning Bethany Neji wandered away, not caring where he walked. He found himself passing a mother and her son, the latter playing in a patch of flowers.

"What are these ones called Mommy?" the boy asked, plucking one of the white flowers and examining its weeping petals.

"That's called a Shiro Hana., or white flower. They say that when these flowers wither, they bring a lot of sadness." the mother answered, laughing as her son put the dying flower on his nose. Neji had to agree with that one.

"What about this one?" he held up a purple flower, one that Neji recognized.

"It's called an Iris. It's said that if you have some growing near you, it makes you wise." the mother said. Neji wasn't sure about that; he was feeling very confused right now.

"And this one?" the boy then held up a yellow flower.

"You sure are full of questions today. That's a yellow Jasmine, and in Hindu they say that it represents love." the mother ruffled her son's hair. Neji had the strangest feeling that an amazing writer had set this up perfectly for him to learn a lesson from.

'This must be a sign. I know what I must do! I need to go give Sakura and TenTen flowers! To Sakura I'll give roses so she knows how much I care for her, and to TenTen I'll send violet hyacinths, because those are said to show how sorry someone is.' Neji thought, and with a tiny feeling of relief that everything would be okay, headed towards Yamanaka Flower shop.

**A/N: I'm so evil, and I'm sorry for that. I wanted nothing more then for Neji and TenTen to run off together into the sunset and be happy for the rest of their lives, but…they are just going to have to work hard for their fluff. Please don't hate me! Also, let me know if Neji seemed OOC towards the end. It's hard to write him thinking about love, because he's not really the type to think about that often, but I try. But NejiTen fans, don't stop reading! I promise to fix things as they should be, don't worry!**


	13. One Very Crappy Day

**A/N: First update of the new year! Whoot! That's just so cool. It seems like I just started writing this fan fiction, but I guess I haven't even looked at it since last year….Get it?**

**I Love You, I Think**

**Chapter 13**

Everything was not okay! Neji opened the door to Yamanaka Flower Shop, the friendly bell ringing in his ears.

"Welcome-" Ino started to say, glancing up from her magazine. The next thing Neji knew a vase flew past his head.

"What the heck was that for?" Neji growled, surprised and angry. Another vase came flying, forcing Neji to duck behind a bag of soil.

"Have you lost your blonde mind?" Neji raised a kunai to defend himself as Ino came charging.

"YOU! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Ino yelled, picking up a bag of cow manure along the way. She threw it as hard as she could. Neji raised the kunai to smack the heavy bag away, but only manage ripping it open and dumping the contents on himself. Coughing and spluttering wet brown goop from his mouth, Neji wondered what had gotten into the girl.

"Serves you right." Ino muttered darkly, taking a few steps back with a disgusted look on her face.

"Just what did I do to deserve _this_?" Neji hissed, feeling the nasty fertilizer clumping in his hair.

"You epically failed at keeping Sakura away from my Sasuke!" Ino put her hands on her hips, her eyes hateful.

"Do you think I'm any more happy about it then you are?" Neji uttered, his nose wrinkled at the smell of his clothes. Ino looked slightly confused.

"You mean, you didn't finally realize that you belong with TenTen?" she asked.

"What?" Neji stared at her.

"Don't tell me you're _that _stupid. It's obvious that you and TenTen are crushing on each other big time."

"Then why do you want me to date Sakura?" Neji questioned, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Honestly I don't care who dates who (well I do, but you know what I mean) just as long as nobody touches my darling Sasuke!" Ino declared, putting a hand over her heart at the mention of the Uchiha. She then remembered how angry she was at Neji and searched for something else to throw. Neji tensed, looked around, and grabbed at some flowers.

"Here, keep the change!" Neji tossed the money at Ino's feet and ran out of the shop, hearing the girl's yells of protest fall fainter and fainter. When he deemed it safe again, Neji stopped running and took a closer look at the flowers he had purchased.

'A couple stems of Lilac and yellow Tulips? These weren't quite what I had in mind…' Neji sighed, wishing fate was on his side today.

'I suppose I'll give these to Sakura, and then go back and get TenTen some once Ino's calmed down.' Going along with his plan of action, Neji hurried to Sakura's house. He started to get nervous as he stood in front of the door, his fist quickly rapping on the door. He could hear the sound of people moving and muttering. At last the door opened, the figure filling up the entire doorway.

"Where's Sakura?" Neji demanded to know, disdainfully eyeing the black haired boy. Sasuke stared coldly back.

"She and I are busy." he sounded smug, much to Neji's annoyance.

"I need to talk to her." Neji stood there with his head held high, showing no sign of backing down. Sasuke eyed the flowers and resisted the urge to rip them to shreds.

"I don't think that's a good idea." the two boys exchanged glares.

"You aren't the boss around here. I can talk to Sakura if I want." Neji tried to push past, but Sasuke remained firm.

"You smell like compost. Go take a bath." Sasuke sneered. Uh oh, Neji had forgotten about the coating of manure on him.

"Another thing, Sakura is mine now. I didn't need your help this time either, which makes my victory all the more sweet." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the first Neji had half raised.

"Are you going to hit me?" he asked, doubt showing in his face.

"No. Because you're not worth it." Neji hissed, turning and marching away. Sakura glanced up from her spot on the floor when Sasuke returned. The dust pan was in her hand along with a broom.

"Who was at the door?" she asked, sweeping up more glass shards.

"Hn." Sasuke frowned, bending down to pick up the bigger shards. Neji decided he might as well throw the flowers away; by now they were sure to smell like fertilizer. His whole day was turning out to be crappy, no pun intended.

"Neji? What's up with the mud?" a hand reached out and blocked Neji's path. He almost snapped at the person, but made himself calm down when he saw who it was.

"Naruto, I'm not really in the mood to chat." Neji said truthfully.

"You look terrible! Is something up?" Naruto looked at the flowers in hand.

"Were you going to give those to TenTen?" Naruto looked taken aback as Neji swore under his breath.

"Why does everyone think I'm with TenTen now?" he growled, looking very frustrated. Naruto cocked his head.

"Well, maybe 'cause Sakura and Sasuke hooked up. Besides, I thought you liked TenTen before?"

"No! Why would you think that?" Neji snapped, feeling bad about saying so.

"I guess it seemed like you two had the hots for each other 'cause you two are the only semi normal guys on your team, no offense." Naruto shrugged.

"'Sides, you and her look good together. At least that's what everyone says." Neji said nothing, his mind turning over this information.

"Thanks, Fox. You've helped me clear my head about something very important. I'll find a way to repay you." Neji uttered before heading home, Naruto staring after him with a pleased yet unsure expression. Outside his home Neji saw newly planted flowers he now knew were called Shiro Hana thanks to a random curious kid and his mom.

"Oi, Hinata!" Neji called as he walked inside, carefully taking off his smelly shoes. They would have to be washed. Hinata's nervous figure peered around the corner.

"Y-Yes, Neji?" she tried to breath through her mouth.

"Is Hiashi letting you outside?" Neji questioned.

"N-Not yet. But H-Hiashi isn't home y-yet." Hinata told him, afraid to ask what this was all about.

"Good. Now, can you tell me what these flowers mean?" Neji held up his bundle. Hinata edged as close as she dared, wanting to have some clean air near by.

"T-The Tulips mean o-one is hopelessly in l-love. The l-lilacs s-stand for a f-first love. Together you c-could say they m-mean one who is h-hopelessly in love w-with their first love." she answered.

"Perfect. Let's go; I'll explain on the way!" Neji ran out the door. A few seconds later he came back.

"We'll go after I shower and get my extra pair of shoes." he told her before dashing upstairs. Hinata wanted to demand an answer from her cousin, but instead she went into the living room and sat down on the couch to wait for Neji's crazy plan to start.

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

Neji took his time in the shower, scrubbing off every inch of fertilizer he could find. He especially took time in washing his hair. Then he found his cleanest outfit and pulled his hair back into the nicest pony tail he could muster.

He even put on a squirt of cologne to pull off the effect. For good measure he sprayed the flowers too. When all was said and done Neji pounded down the stairs and dug out his extra shoes from the downstairs closet, flowers in hand.

"Hinata, we're leaving now!" Neji yelled, not aware his cousin was in the other room.

"W-What is going on Neji?" Hinata mumbled feebly, telling herself she was pathetic. How could she ever learn to stand up for herself when she couldn't even demand an answer from Neji? Without warning Neji grabbed Hinata's arm and yanked her outside.

"N-Neji!" Hinata squealed, practically being knocked off her feet. Neji ignored her; instead he ran faster, thus pulling on Hinata's arm harder.

"L-Let go…please!" Hinata cried, nearly tripping over her own feet. It was like she was talking to a wall. She was starting to feel angry.

"P-Please Neji?" Hinata pleaded again, trying to sound firm.

"Shut it, Hinata." Neji snapped irritably.

"N-N-No! You be q-quiet, or at least t-tell me where we're g-going!" Hinata yanked her arm free, surprising both the Hyugas.

"I-I'm sorry!" she gasped, bowing her head. Neji, however, was smirking.

"Good job Hinata." he told her with a pat on the shoulder.

"W-What?" Hinata's eyes widened in shock.

"Your boyfriend helped me out with something important, and I told him I would find a way to repay him for it. I know he worries about your lack of confidence, so I forced you to come with me and drag you around like a rag doll until you spoke up. I'm glad it didn't take long, because now I have somewhere to be." Neji turned to leave.

"Y-You mean I let you d-drag me out here a-against my father's wishes f-for nothing?" Hinata looked around wildly, as if she expected Hiashi to catch her in the act.

"Hinata, you're a good daughter. Too good, actually. Go out and have some fun for once. That's an order, got it?" Neji allowed a small smile before leaving Hinata standing there. She didn't know what to do. As much as she wanted to enjoy her freedom outside, she also didn't want to disobey her father.

"Hey Hinata! I'm so glad you can come out of the house again!" Naruto laughed, running towards the heiress. Then again, a little time with Naruto-kun couldn't hurt…

'Thank you, Neji!' Hinata thought while her face lit up as if it were on fire. Neji sighed deeply as he fast walked towards his destination. He had done a good deed for his cousin and for Naruto, but could he rectify an earlier mistake?

**A/N: Sudden cliffhanger, check. Slight HinaNaru fluff, check. Sure signs there will be drama in the Hyuga home, check. Alright, looks like this chapter has everything it needs! Where is Neji going with the flowers? What will Hiashi do about his daughter if/when caught? I hope I'm not driving you readers crazy with these annoying questions ;D**


	14. Stickin' It To The Man

**A/N: Today should have been my first day back to school, but we got so much snow that it was canceled! How great, right? So to celebrate I shall update and end the annoying cliffhanger that has been driving everyone crazy!**

**I Love You, I Think**

**Chapter 14**

Neji stood outside of TenTen's house. He had knocked on the door, and when TenTen peered out a window and saw him she had walked away. He still hadn't heard a word from her. With a desperate sigh Neji pounded on the door again.

"TenTen, please don't make me knock this door down." he yelled. The bushes in front of TenTen's house rustled even though there was no wind.

"TenTen?" Neji tried one final time.

"Fine." he heard her huff from inside. A shadow overlapped Neji's, and he whirled around to find Ino holding another bag of manure.

"No- Ino don't!" Neji's eyes widened in horror.

"Sorry Neji but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do!" Ino ripped open the bag and raised it above her head. Neji ducked to the side as clumps of fertilizer came rolling down.

"What do you want?" TenTen walked out the door, her arms crossed against her chest. She shrieked when the flower soil rained down on her head. Ino fled in a hurry, leaving the half empty bag at Neji's feet.

"TenTen, are you okay?" Neji reached forward to wipe away the yuck from her hair, but she angrily pushed his hand away.

"Is this some kind of sick joke? Are we on one of those dumb game shows?" TenTen failed to hide the hurt on her face. Evidently she had not seen Ino. Neji silently cursed.

"No, we're not. Just let me explain!" he waited for a response from TenTen. Her eyes narrowed sharply and when it was clear she wasn't going to say anything he continued.

"I went to Ino's shop to by apology flowers, when that crazy Yamanaka girl attacked me! She dumped a bag of manure on me and I had to go home and shower. Then I came here with the flowers, but Ino was stalking me and attacked me with more manure! Only, I didn't plan on you coming out, so when I moved aside you got hit instead, which I'm sorry for." Neji finished and waited. TenTen kept staring at him with her narrowed eyes, causing Neji to squirm.

"I really am sorry TenTen. For everything. I've been doing some thinking, and it's obvious I'll never have Sakura. So I was thinking maybe you and I…" Neji's voice trailed off uncertainly. TenTen looked even madder, if that was possible.

"What, I'm just the back up girl you run to whenever Sakura's busy?" she snarled.

"No! I…I don't know if I like you that way. All I know is you're important to me, and when you're upset it makes me feel like I ripped my own heart out. I guess what I'm saying is…if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, I'm willing to…give _us_ a try…and, eh, I'm still really sorry…?" he started to sweat when TenTen's expression still stayed the same.

A few tense moments passed in which Neji wished he could die from humiliation and rejection. He sucked in his breath and wondered if he should just leave. Then, a nearly impossible to see smile appeared on her lips. TenTen pulled Neji into the tightest hug he'd ever gotten before.

"Oh Neji!" she whispered in his ear, sending waves of relief throughout the Hyuga boy. TenTen leaned back so that she could look Neji in the eye.

"It's okay Neji; I don't want you to date me because you feel like you have to, or because you want to make me happy. I can't be happy if you aren't. Besides, I know that Sakura was your first love and that it's hard to get over her. Take your time, and when you find a new girl I'll be here to support you." TenTen smiled more broadly now, though her smile was a little shy of her eyes. Neji hesitated before wrapping his own arms around TenTen, holding her close to him.

"TenTen, I'm going to be honest here; when it comes to this love business, I suck. But if there's anybody I would have to be with to become a better romantic, it'd be you." Neji uttered seriously. TenTen was at lost for words. She settled with a simple,

"Thank you!" and pecked Neji on the cheek. Both blushed deeply.

"I still have a lot to learn. Do you think we should practice?" Neji asked, earning a giggle from his teammate.

"You honestly want to practice with me stinking like manure?" TenTen and Neji rolled their eyes in unison.

"Come on, you can wait while I wash my hair." TenTen grabbed Neji's hand and led him inside her house, the nearly empty sack of fertilizer forgotten.

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

"For real, you _still _aren't allowed out of the house?" Naruto whined. When he saw Hinata standing outside, alone, he automatically rushed towards her. As expected her face burned bright, which always made Naruto wonder if she was sick.

What really made him wonder was how happy Hinata looked whenever she saw he was coming. It was like he made her whole day just by saying hello. Today was no exception. He and Hinata had taken a walk that led them both to Ichiraku's where they currently sat, chatting and eating the delicious noodles.

"Wait, I just realized something; you're not allowed out of the house but you did anyway!" Naruto gasped. Hinata looked down at her bowl.

"It w-was Neji's fault. H-He wanted me t-to get some c-c-c-confidence." Hinata muttered, having a hard time admitting such a thing. It made her feel even weaker then she already was.

"So you're going against Hiashi? Whoa! Hinata you're awesome!" Naruto slurped more ramen, thankfully not noticing how red the heiress had turned. With a small smile Hinata nibbled on a piece of meat; having Naruto compliment her like that made her feel like she really could do anything. Once they finished eating, Naruto pulled out a fat little wallet shaped like a frog.

"I'll pay for our ramen today." Naruto informed her, setting the money down on the counter.

"Y-You don't h-have to do that N-Naruto!" Hinata reached for her pocket.

"I know, but I want to." Naruto smiled. Hinata's hand froze. She gave up, settling for smiling back. Honestly, today hadn't turned out half bad. It got even better when they stood up to leave. She noticed Naruto starting to fidget nervously.

Before she could ask what was wrong, Naruto reached over and grabbed her hand. Though he was grinning, Hinata could see the fear in his eyes, as if he wasn't sure whether he was going too far. She felt like she was going to faint.

'N-No! I must stay awake and enjoy this!' Hinata thought. She then realized that they hadn't moved, or said a word, and Naruto looked worried. She felt him start to pull his hand away. To show that she really didn't want him to, she held on tighter. Naruto looked surprised but then that shock turned to joy as he gave her hand a tiny squeeze. Hinata giggled.

"Naruto, you're blocking the entrance." Teuchi said, a proud smile on is face. Nothing made him happier then seeing his prized customer finding his true love at Ichiraku's.

"Sorry!" Naruto waved goodbye at Teuchi and Ayame before leading Hinata out of the shop. They were just settling into a conversation when suddenly Naruto found himself pinned against a building, the front of his jacket being held by Hiashi.

"Tell me why I shouldn't slice open your neck!" Hiashi hissed, his eyes murderous.

"Let got of me, you old creep!" Naruto snapped, coughing as the hold on his jacket tightened, putting strain on his neck. Hinata had her hands over her mouth in terror.

"I TOLD you to stay AWAY from Hinata!" he yelled.

"And I told you to back off, teme!" Naruto growled, not regretting a word.

"Your manners are as terrible as your filthy Kyuubi blood!" Hiashi spat on Naruto's face. Naruto's eyes were almost red with anger.

"S-Stop…!" Hinata whispered, her voice so quiet she could barely hear it.

"S-Stop!" Hinata tried again. She was louder this time, but Hiashi ignored her. She could hear Neji's voice in her head, telling her to stop being such a push over.

"Let g-go of N-Naruto!" Hinata shouted, standing up tall. Hiashi glanced at her in pure shock.

"Naruto is a great person. He is kind, dependable, and always keeps his promises! He is more of a ninja and a man then you could ever hope to be!" Hinata gasped at her own rudeness and the fact that she didn't even stutter.

"Hinata, look at what hanging around this fox brat has done to you!" Hiashi said in disgust. Hinata said nothing but kept her eyes locked on her father's. After a few minutes Hiashi let Naruto go and sighed.

"Look how confident this baka has made you… and you seemed so joyful walking with him…" neither Naruto nor Hinata dared speak as Hiashi mulled things over.

"Hinata…you have my permission to see the fox b- er, I mean, this Uzumaki lad. Just come home in time for dinner." With that said Hiashi turned and walked away, leaving two very confused children in his wake.

"Hinata, you stood up to your father! That takes some serious guts! You're so brave! Oh yeah, and thanks for standing up for me!" Naruto grabbed Hinata's hands for the second time that day and stared into her purple eyes.

"N-Naruto…" Hinata was back to her stuttering and she was fairly certain she would never be able to do that again.

"I've never seen you this way Hinata. It's so cool; you're almost as good at standing up to people as me!" that was it, the poor dark haired girl just couldn't take it anymore. She fainted, right into Naruto's arms, not hearing the chuckle that escaped his lips as he pulled her onto his back and carried her back to his apartment.

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

It may have taken all day, but with Sasuke's help Sakura was able to clean up all the glass and dust, plus put up plastic over the gaping holes in her kitchen until someone could come by and replace them. When all the cleaning was done, Sakura made them tea and they sat together on Sakura's couch drinking the warm beverage contently.

"Thanks again for helping me clean up that mess Gai left. I swear, the next time I see him he's going to feel the power of my right hook, cha!" Sakura's voice grew louder towards the end of her sentence. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." he said, smirking when Sakura had no reply. Instead she sat down her cup of tea and rested her head on his shoulder. Sasuke had to force himself not to tense up; this new touching was very unfamiliar to him.

"You know, I've been thinking of a way to get Gai back for those photographs." Sakura uttered as she traced random patterns on Sasuke's shirt sleeve.

"Hn?" was Sasuke's way of asking for details.

"If only we could catch him doing something utterly humiliating…" Sakura sighed.

"Maybe we can." Sasuke said. Sakura looked up at him with an arched brow.

"Uchiha, are you suggesting we go and stalk Gai-sensei with a camera and take pictures of him during his most private and personal moments?" Sakura stated in mild surprise.

"That depends, are you planning on calling me Uchiha from now on?" Sasuke questioned. He loved answering her questions with another question.

"Let me try again. Oh, Sasuke-sama-kyou-heika-sempai-dono-no kimi-ue, do you have an amazingly brilliant plan to help get revenge on the evil Gai?" Sakura blinked her emerald eyes and smiled, a combination that Sasuke never was good at resisting.

"That's more like it." he told her.

"Baka." Sakura muttered under her breath.

"Do you want to hear my plan or not?" Sasuke inquired.

"Go on, I won't say another word." Sakura promised. She listened as Sasuke explained, in detail, his plan for extracting much deserved revenge. When he was done, he found himself being hugged by the pink haired girl.

"You're the best, Sasuke!" she told him.

"Hn."

**A/N: Mwhuahahahahaha! Now things are rolling! Neji and TenTen are together FINALLY, and so are Naruto and Hinata. I'm sorry if Hinata was kinda OOC, but I love the idea of her getting a backbone, even if it is only for a little bit. Plus it made things so much cuter with her and Naruto! Also I threw in some SasuSaku, since they're supposed to be the main couple. Now what idea did Sasuke come up with? Looks like you'll have to wait to find out ;D**


	15. Sweet Revenge

**A/N: Sayjay-chan would like to say sorry for a mistake she didn't realize until last night! I forgot to put down in the ending author's note what all those suffixes after Sasuke's name meant! I used google to find them and just picked ones that meant he was greater then Sakura, royal, amazing, that sort of thing. I won't bore you with a detailed explanation of each one. Also, this is the last chapter. I'm sorry, I know you would all love for this to go on, but feel that this is a good way to end it. I'm going out with a bang, don't worry!**

**Disclaimer: I believe I already made one for both of these, but just in case I don't own Google or Twilight. Again, haters, it's not what you think! It's more of a comic relief type thing!**

**I Love You, I Think**

**Chapter 15**

The next day Hinata, Neji, TenTen, and Naruto all found letters in their mailboxes from Sakura. They all read the same:

_Hey, this is Sakura! _

_I thought you would like to know that Sasuke and I (okay, it was mostly Sasuke; I'm only writing this because he's scowling over my shoulder. You know how he hates to share- ow, he poked me in the ribcage!) came up with the perfect way to get revenge on Gai-Sensei. Come by my place at once so we can talk about it in detail. Neji and TenTen, DO NOT LET GAI FIND OUT! Naruto, don't go bragging your big mouth to anybody either. Oh, and don't take forever at Ichiraku's, because if you don't show up in time we're going ahead with the plan without you. _

_Love always, Sakura (and Sasuke so he doesn't feel lonely- ow he poked me again!!!!)_

It was just after ten in the morning when the gang showed up at Sakura's house. They were surprised that Naruto was on time too. It appeared Sakura's threat had pushed him into action (not to mention giving them all a laugh). Once everyone was gathered in Sakura's living room, she stood in front of the group and called for attention.

"Glad you guys could make it! Help yourselves to the chocolate on the table." Sakura gestured to the said chocolate, smiling at Neji when he caught her eye. Even though he was now with TenTen, it still made Neji happy to notice there wasn't much chocolate on the plate.

Naruto instantly reached forward and grabbed a handful of chocolate, then continued to shove the whole pile into his mouth. Hinata looked down at her hands and smiled, finding the sight extremely cute. Sakura ignored the pig, deciding that argument wasn't worth her time.

"Um, well you all know why we're here, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, to get revenge on Gai-Sensei!" TenTen stated, earning several mutters of agreement. The pinkette turned to Sasuke, looking a little uncomfortable being up front alone. Sasuke rolled his eyes and joined her. As it turned out, Sasuke's plan was the exact same as Sakura's. She only agreed to let him take credit because, well, Sasuke knew how to be _very_ persuasive when he wanted to be.

"Here's how this is going to work: I'm going to give each of you a camera. We'll take turns watching him in different places such as at home or on his way to the market. That way we can be sure to get enough blackmail to prevent Gai from ever interfering in our lives again." Sasuke reached for a plastic bag sitting on the ground and pulled out six disposable cameras. He tossed one to each person and scowled when Naruto dropped his.

"Use them well. In one week we'll meet back here and pick the best photographs. Then, we confront Gai." Sasuke ordered, signaling a dismissal. Neji and TenTen left first, carefully tucking their cameras in their hip pouches before departing.

"I like the chocolate Sakura!" Naruto announced with a smile. Brown goop could be seen between his teeth.

"Eh, glad to know Naruto." Sakura forced herself to smile back.

"Let's go Hinata!" Naruto linked arms with his new girlfriend and out they went, with Hinata shouting a stuttered goodbye over her shoulder.

"That went well, I think." Sakura said brightly once everyone had left.

"Let's just go; I want to get my revenge as soon as possible." Sasuke proclaimed.

"What's with you and the whole vengeance thing? I swear you're more obsessed with it then Naruto is with ramen." Sakura giggled at Sasuke's expression.

"I am not obsessed with revenge." he argued, heading towards the kitchen.

"Sasuke, for the last time, there are no more tomatoes!" Sakura called after the Uchiha, hearing him swear back at her.

"I thought you wanted to leave, and go get your precious revenge?" Sakura headed towards the kitchen, wondering what was up with the Uchiha boy.

"Later, I'm busy now." the boy replied. Sakura quickened her pace, eager to find out what was so important it made him want to put off revenge. She froze when she saw him eating the tomato that had previously been on the floor.

"They really are your favorite, huh?" Sakura made a face. Sasuke finished the whole tomato and washed his hands in the sink.

"You could say that, but lately there's been something else that I consider my favorite." Sasuke said casually.

"And that would be…?" Sakura asked, curious.

"You." Sasuke couldn't help but say it, and though it took a lot for him to admit it, he was glad he did. Sakura hugged him again, overly elated that Sasuke would ever say such a thing. It was very out of character for him; Sasuke never was the type to show his emotions.

Sakura had always done her best to figure out what was going on inside her teammate's head, but it really touched her heart that he was finally opening up. Ino sure wouldn't like that!

"It's not that big of a deal." Sasuke muttered, the smallest of small smiles visible on his face.

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

One week passed, and as agreed the young ninja reunited at Sakura's house.

"Okay, spread the photos on the coffee table." Sasuke commanded. Neji made a scoffing sound, but other then that nobody made a remark about Sasuke's sudden bossy behavior. Over the course of the next hour, the six ninjas all but laughed to death. They had the most humiliating pictures anyone could have ever dreamed of.

"How does one guy do so many freaky things?" TenTen managed to say in between giggles.

"I-I don't know, but it s-sure was interesting to s-spy on him." Hinata uttered.

"You said it! MegaBrows is a total oddball!" Naruto added.

"Watch it!" Neji and TenTen warned in unison.

"I don't know about you guys, but I like these the best." Sakura pushed the said photos towards the middle.

"Me too!" the others nodded in agreement.

"Let's end this." Sasuke grabbed the photo he had taken and the others did the same. Then, it was off to Gai's usual training grounds. It wasn't hard to find the green clad man; after all, who else did they know that walks around on their hands for hours on end?

"Oh Gai-Sensei!" TenTen called in a sing song voice.

"Ah, Konoha's newest love birds! What can I do for you on this amazing day of youth?" Gai pushed off of the ground and did a back flip, landing on his feet casually.

"We have something to show you." Neji slowly pulled out his blackmail.

"What's that?" Gai asked, a single bead of sweat dropping down the side of his face.

"Oh, nothing much. Just a photograph of you inside your home. Remember last Monday? You were standing in front of the sink in your bathroom? During that time you reached up and peeled your eyebrows off, leaving the impression that they're fake! If you look at this piece of evidence, you can see the said facial hair in your hand and not on your face." Neji help up the photograph smugly.

"N-Now it's not what you think!" Gai laughed nervously.

"We're not done quite yet. I have a photograph too." Sakura held hers up next.

"This scarred me for life. I have proof that you, Gai-Sensei, like to sing in the privacy of your living room- in a really tight and unfortunately really skimpy Speedo. I believe this was taken on Tuesday." sure enough, there was Gai in a green Speedo singing into a hair brush.

"Me next, me next! Mine was taken on Wednesday!" Naruto shouted, happily waving his evidence around.

"Here's a picture of Gai-Sensei braiding his long and curly black chest hair!" Naruto grinned his lopsided goofy smile, obviously overly elated at his find.

"I-I have a picture of Gai-Sensei's c-closet. You c-can tell it's his b-because of the spandex h-hanging in the b-background. If you l-look closely, you can see a p-picture of a red headed k-kunoichi from our v-village. Gai-Sensei has b-built a mini shrine to t-this woman. M-My photo was taken on Thursday." Hinata flashed her photo. Gai was really starting to sweat now.

"Now for my picture! This was taken on Friday. It was late in the evening, just after our team's training session. Gai-Sensei was at home relaxing after a hard days work. But how does he do that? He sits on his couch, reading the highly acclaimed book called Twilight, and if you look at his eyes you can see that he's crying." TenTen proudly held the photo out of Gai's reach.

"Finally, my picture that was taken on Saturday. It was getting late, and Gai-Sensei had just settled down to go to sleep. I was going to give up; clearly there was nothing to blackmail him with when it comes to sleeping. Then, I saw him turn around, snuggling with a teddy bear that was wearing a lavender dress." Sasuke showed his piece of evidence and smirked.

"Ha ha ha hahahahahahahaha!" Gai started laughing loudly.

"Ah, you kids are so full of your youth! I love a good joke! Hee hee hahaha!" the spandex wearer pretended to wipe away a tear. The six ninjas started to walk away; Naruto and Hinata holding hands, Neji with his arm around TenTen's waist, and Sakura leaning her head on Sasuke's shoulder while he kept one hand in his pocket and the other over her shoulders.

"Neji? TenTen?" Gai called, taking a step after them.

"Hinata? Naruto? Sakura? Sasuke? Guys? It was a joke, right?" Gai started running after the new romantics, shouting their names and pleading for the blackmail.

"That was satisfying." Neji said as they ignored the man chasing after them.

"I can't wait for the day to come when we get to use these pictures again!" TenTen sighed contently.

"I want to see the look on Gai-Sensei's face when he finds out we made copies!" Sakura added.

"You two sure like the idea of making MegaBrows squirm." Naruto observed.

"W-Well, he did t-try to force us into a r-relationship." Hinata reminded.

"But we all ended up together anyway." Sasuke countered.

"Oh my gosh, Sasuke contributed to the conversation!" Sakura gasped in mock surprise.

"Shut up!" he snapped back. Sakura stuck out her tongue at him.

"Hey, why don't we all go out for some ramen?" Naruto suggested.

"Is that all you ever eat?" TenTen inquired.

"Yes." Hinata answered with a little chuckle.

"Ramen actually sounds good right now." Neji stated. Sasuke didn't look pleased.

"I'll order extra tomatoes for you next time I go shopping!" Sakura bribed, knowing full well Sasuke couldn't resist.

"Ramen it is!" Naruto cheered.

"It'll be like one big happy date!" TenTen put in, earning a group moan.

"Remember what happened last time we all went on a big happy date?" Neji frowned.

"Yeah, we all got attacked by Sasuke's fangirls over a piece of his stupid shirt, and all of Konoha thought that I was gay with him!" Naruto growled at the memory.

"Don't remind me." Sasuke didn't like to remember that either.

"I-I'm glad you two d-didn't really turn out g-gay…" Hinata said shyly.

"Between you and me, if I had to be gay it sure as heck wouldn't be with teme over there." Naruto muttered in her ear.

"What was that baka?" Sasuke hissed, knowing full well what was said.

"I think you're both idiots." Neji murmured. TenTen poked him in the side.

"Be nice." she told him, smiling as he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. Naruto and Sasuke continued their bickering on the way to Ichiraku's, only ceasing when Sakura threatened to punch them both. It appeared this was something they were going to have to get used too, because what started out as

"…I love you…I think." evolved to kisses, hand holding, and tomato frenzies. Gai may have been stuck with the raw end of the stick, but the village hidden in the leaves now had three happy couples and six stronger friendships in its mist.

The rest, they say, is history.

**A/N: I think the ending might have been crap. I just wasn't sure how to end it. And I'm kinda afraid of the reviews, because I'm sure nobody wanted this fan fiction to come to a finish. But the ride's been fun, and I really did love writing this! It is, by far, the most reviewed/alerted fic I've ever written. I guess I'll have to say it's my best, based off those stats. Thanks a kazillion to you, the reader, for all the love and support I got! I love seeing familiar names as people review every chapter. Remember, I've written plenty of other SasuSaku and some HinaNaru and NejiTen. Until next time, readers, bye bye now!**


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